The Outsiders
by RainEStar3
Summary: StarClan is lost. They know that disaster is coming to the clans once more, but even they cannot determine what the danger is. To make matters worse, their pride has made them reject the help of anyone who is non-clan. The Animorphs are there to help regardless of what either party wants, but how can they save the clans if StarClan itself is against the group?
1. Prologue

**Greetings!**

 **This story chronicles my first work published on this site since I left two years ago. All I can say know is I hope that both the Warriors and Animorph fandoms are active enough for people to see this. Oh well, onto the Prologue!**

* * *

StarClan was an enchanting as ever. The grass, trees, and sky were dotted with the stars of Silverpelt. The forest was filled with all kinds of plump prey: squirrels, birds, and mice among other creatures. A warm breezed snaked its way through the trees, ruffling the fur of an old, lumbering badger.

"Midnight!"

The old badger turned her head to the familiar voice. "Good seeing you again, Firestar," she greeted the former ThunderClan leader in her usual rumble. "You not changed in past few moons."

"Walking in the StarClan has its benefits," Firestar chuckled. He still missed being alive with his clan, but it did not take him long to adjust to his new, carefree lifestyle. "How's the prey running?"

"Well enough. I do not hunger," the badger replied as a small smile crept over her muzzle. She looked around at the twinkling forest. "Here is good place for rest. Little changes."

Warning bells began ringing in Firestar's head. "Has anything happened to the clans?" he asked worriedly.

The badger shook her head. "The clans are at peace," she assured him. "For now."

Firestar sighed. "I take you're not here for a casual visit?" he asked, even though he already could guess the answer. Midnight was one creature who almost never showed up except during a crisis.

Midnight nodded slowly. "Follow."

She led Firestar through the forest, leading him to a clearing he had never visited before. Several cats had already gathered there, sitting around a large pool in the center of the glade. He recognized most of them, and the rest he had remembered seeing on at least one previous occasion.

"Took you long enough to join us," Yellowfang said grumpily as Firestar settled down near her.

"Sorry," he apologized to the former medicine cat. "I was not informed we were going to be meeting tonight. What's this about?"

"Disaster for the clans, what else?" Leopardstar asked drily. Leopardstar had never been too fond of the ginger tom, partially because she had been the leader of the RiverClan. The feud between the ThunderClan and RiverClan had stretched since the beginning of the clans themselves due to a small patch of land that bordered both territories. Or, more correctly, bordered their _old_ territories. Now that the clans had left the Forest Territories and resided in the Lake Territories, there was little reason for the two clans to squabble, espiecially since they no longer shared borders with each other. Still, Leopardstar wasn't one to let old grudges die.

Crookedstar gave Leopardstar a nudge. "There's no need to be so pessimistic," he told her. "After all, it would be nice to have bit of rest after many moons of tension."

"Greenleaf is ending, and so are the times of peace," said Bluestar. "Have you not been keeping an eye out for your clanmates, Firestar?"

Firestar inwardly winced. Bluestar had been his mentor and leader during her lifetime. He took any scolding she gave to heart. "I've been looking at them, but I cannot say I've been looking out for danger," he admitted. "It's only been a few moons since we defeated the cats of the Dark Forest; I didn't expect anything else to happen so soon."

"Evil is not an adder that rears its head in season. It is a pack of wild dogs, striking at will with as much force as it pleases," Tallstar mewed wisely.

Firestar nodded. "You seem to grow wiser by the moon, Tallstar," he praised the former WindClan leader.

"Can we got on with it?" grumbled Russetfur, a former ShadowClan deputy. "I didn't die in battle so I could sit here and die of boredom."

"I highly doubt boredom is the worst thing we have to worry about," said Bluestar pointedly.

"What exactly are we worrying about?" Firestar asked his former mentor in a whisper.

Bluestar hesitated, so Yellowfang decided to answer for her. "We're not entirely sure what's going on. All we know is that there's trouble nearing the clans, and it seems to be coming from the twolegplace."

"That's it?" Firestar asked in surprise.

"You should know by now that even StarClan lacks all the answers," Bluestar mewed. "Some things are beyond us, including the knowledge of what's happening in the Twolegplace. It's out of our paws."

"And to make matters worse, we have no prophecies to give," Yellowfang muttered.

Firestar's eyes widened. When he was still alive, StarClan had given prophecies about the coming dangers before even they knew exactly what was happening. "But how are we supposed to warn the clans about this?" he asked in alarm.

"We don't."

"What?"

"Yellowfang is right, Firestar," Bluestar mewed. "Without a prophecy or any knowledge of the situation, warning the clans would only add to the problem by sending them into a panic. We must wait until we know more."

"And when will that be?" Firestar asked.

"That is why I called for meeting," Midnight rumbled. "I have met one who knows Twolegplace well. He can help."

"And who is this cat exactly?" Russetfur asked suspiciously.

"That would be me," said a new voice. Firestar turned his head to the voice to see tomcat push out of the surrounding undergrowth and stand tall among the StarClan cats. His pelt was a fiery ginger color, akin to Firestar's. His eyes were a shining golden color. Unlike the rest of the cats in the clearing, his coat was not dotted with the stars of Silverpelt. It was as bare as Midnight's, showing that he was not a part of StarClan's ranks. "My name is Buddy. Pleased to meet you, cats of StarClan." He politely dipped his head, but that did not make his entrance any more favorable.

"Outsider!" A ShadowClan tom hissed. He and several other cats stood up with bristling fur as they eyed the newcomer with suspicion.

"Midnight, didn't you learn from the last time that outsiders are not to be trusted with clan business?" Yellowfang growled.

"Am I not outsider as well?" Midnight challenged.

"We trust you, Midnight," Tallstar assured her. "It's just that you made the mistake of giving Sol information once-"

"Sol was bad, yes," Midnight agreed. "But this cat not Sol."

"Who cares?" Leopardstar growled. "Living cats have no right to interfere with StarClan affairs, especially if they're filthy rogues."

If Buddy took offense to that, he didn't show it. "Given your seniority, I can understand that you may dislike having younger cats interfere with your work," he mewed politely. "However, I've been seeing problems of my own in the city—or Twolegplace as you call it. One group of cats are swelling in size and tearing their enemies to shreds. Naturally, this wouldn't concern me too much, but-"

"What do we care about the problems of rogues?" Russetfur asked.

"The concern is that they might be doing more than ruling the city," Buddy replied. "That is bad enough on its own, but it seems the trouble may be coming to your clans."

"Tell us something we don't know!" a cat yowled.

"I'm afraid I'm just a traveler, so I don't know a lot about the situation yet," said Buddy apogetically. When yowls of protest arose, he hastily added, "I am going to try to learn more when I go back to the ci-Twolegplace. It will just take some time.

"Don't make excuses," Leopardstar growled. "You've proven yourself to be rather useless, sputtering things we already know. I can't fathom why Midnight would bring you _here_ for nothing. Though considering Sol I guess I can't put anything past her now…"

"Don't be so jumpy, Leopardstar," said Bluestar. "Although his current information is… less than helpful, he could be a useful informat."

"As much as I would like to agree, Bluestar, I'm afraid I'm going to have to side with Leopardstar on this one," said Tallstar. "After Sol's betrayal, it would take a lot more than this display for me to trust outsiders with such affairs."

"Get him out of here!" Russetfur ordered.

"Hold on a moment," said Firestar boldly. "Bluestar's right, we can't just throw away potential help when it comes walking to us."

"You're too young to get involved in such affairs," Leopardstar growled.

Firestar's fur bristled. "You don't expect me to sit around silently the entire meeting do you?"

"Don't get started fighting," said Crookedstar as he moved between the two cats. "We still have business to attend to."

"Agreed," said Russetfur in a low growl. "I say we take a vote on whether or not we accept help from this _rouge_." She spat out the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

In the end, only Firestar, Bluestar, and a scarce pawful of warriors wanted to accept Buddy's aid, while the majority wanted to keep Clan affairs within the clans. Although Midnight and Buddy looked disappointed, they nodded their heads in understanding.

"I will not interfere with clan business; or step foot in the territories of the clans of the living or dead," Buddy vowed. "Good-bye, StarClan."

Midnight started to leave the clearing with Buddy, but when she reached the tree line, she turned and said, "StarClan has gotten proud. Forgot how outsiders have saved Clans. Fools! One day you will request help from outsider, but it will be _too late_!"

* * *

Post-The Last Hope Alliegiences

 ** _ThunderClan_**

 **Leader** : **Bramblestar—** dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

 **Deputy :** **Squirrelflight—** dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

 **Medicine Cat:** **Leafpool—** light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

 **Apprentice, Jayfeather** (gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes)

 **Warriors:** (toms and she-cats without kits)

 **Sandstorm—** pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

 **Brackenfur—** golden brown tabby

 **Cloudtail—** long-haired white tom with blue eyes

 **Millie—** striped gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

 **Thornclaw—** golden brown tabby tom

 **Spiderleg—** black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

 **Birchfall—** light brown tabby tom

 **Whitewing—** white she-cat with green eyes

 **Berrynose—** cream-colored tom

 **Hazeltail—** small gray-and-white she-cat

 **Mousewhisker—** gray-and-white tom

 **Poppyfrost—** tortoiseshell she-cat

 **Cinderheart—** gray tabby she-cat

 **Lionblaze—** golden tabby tom with amber eyes

 **Foxleap—** reddish tabby tom

 **Apprentice, Cherrypaw**

 **Icecloud—** white she-cat

 **Toadstep—** black-and-white tom

 **Rosepetal—** dark cream she-cat

 **Apprentice, Molepaw**

 **Briarlight—** dark brown she-cat

 **Blossomfall—** tortoiseshell and white she-cat

 **Bumblestripe—** very pale gray tom with black stripes

 **Dovewing—** pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

 **Ivypool—** silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

 **Apprentices:** (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

 **Cherrypaw—** ginger she-cat

 **Molepaw—** brown-and-cream tom

 **Lilypaw** — small, dark tabby she-cat with white patches and blue eyes she-cat

 **Seedpaw** — very pale ginger she-cat

 **Queens:** (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

 **Daisy—** cream long-furred cat from the horseplace

 **Brightheart—** white she-cat with ginger patches (mother to Snowkit, a white tom with amber eyes, Amberkit, a gray she-cat with white paws, a white muzzle, a white right ear, and amber eyes, and Dewkit, a gray tom with amber eyes)

 **Elders:** (former warriors and queens, now retired)

 **Purdy—** plump tabby former loner with a gray muzzle

 **Graystripe—** long-haired gray tom

 **Dustpelt—** dark brown tabby tom

 ** _ShadowClan_**

 **Leader:** **Rowanclaw—** lithe, dark ginger tom with green eyes

 **Deputy: ****Oakfur—** small brown tom

 **Medicine Cat** : **Littlecloud—** very small tabby tom

 **Warriors:**

 **Smokefoot—** black tom

 **Toadfoot—** dark brown tom

 **Applefur—** mottled brown she-cat

 **Crowfrost—** black-and-white tom

 **Snowbird—** pure-white she-cat

 **Tawnypelt—** tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

 **Apprentice,** **Grasspaw**

 **Olivenose—** tortoiseshell she-cat

 **Owlclaw—** light brown tabby tom

 **Shrewfoot—** gray she-cat with black feet

 **Scorchfur—** dark gray tom

 **Dawnpelt—** cream-furred she-cat

 **Pinenose—** black she-cat

 **Ferretclaw—** cream-and-gray tom

 **Apprentice, Spikepaw**

 **Pinenose—** black she-cat

 **Stoatfur—** tortoiseshell and white she-cat

 **Queens:**

 **Kinkfur—** tabby she-cat, with long fur that sticks out at all angles (mother to Dewkit, a gray she-cat, Sparrowkit, a brown tabby tom, and Mistkit, a pale gray she-cat)

 **Ivytail—** black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat

 **Apprentices:**

 **Grasspaw—** pale brown tabby she-cat

 **Spikepaw—** dark brown tom

 **Elders:**

 **Cedarheart—** dark gray tom

 **Snaketail—** dark brown tom with tabby-striped tail

 **Whitewater—** white she-cat with long fur, blind in one eye

 **Ratscar—** brown tom with long scar across his back

 ** _WindClan_**

 **Leader:** **Onestar—** brown tabby tom

 **Deputy:** **Harespring—** brown-and-white tom

 **Apprentice, Slightpaw**

 **Medicine Cat:** **Kestrelflight—** mottled gray tom

 **Warriors:**

 **Crowfeather—** dark gray tom

 **Apprentice, Featherpaw**

 **Owlwhisker—** light brown tabby tom

 **Nightcloud—** black she-cat

 **Apprentice,** **Hootpaw**

 **Gorsetail—** very pale gray-and-white tom with blue eyes

 **Weaselfur—** ginger tom with white paws

 **Leaftail—** dark tabby tom, amber eyes

 **Apprentice,** **Oatpaw**

 **Emberfoot—** gray tom with two dark paws

 **Heathertail—** light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

 **Swallowtail—** dark gray she-cat

 **Sunstrike—** tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead

 **Furzepelt—** gray-and-white she-cat

 **Boulderfur—** large pale gray tom

 **Crouchfoot—** ginger tom

 **Larkwing—** pale brown tabby she-cat

 **Apprentices:**

 **Slightpaw—** black tom with flash of white on his chest

 **Featherpaw—** gray tabby she-cat

 **Hootpaw—** dark gray tom

 **Oatpaw—** pale brown tabby tom

 **Queens:**

 **Sedgewhisker—** light brown tabby she-cat

 **Elders:**

 **Whitetail—** small white she-cat

 **Whiskernose—** light brown tom

 ** _RiverClan_**

 **Leader:** **Mistystar—** gray she-cat with blue eyes

 **Deputy:** **Reedwhisker—** black tom

 **Apprentice, Lizardpaw**

 **Medicine Cat:** **Mothwing—** dappled golden she-cat

 **Apprentice, Willowshine** (gray tabby she-cat)

 **Warriors:**

 **Graymist—** pale gray tabby she-cat

 **Mintfur—** light gray tabby tom

 **Minnowtail—** dark gray she-cat

 **Pebblefoot—** mottled gray tom

 **Mallownose—** light brown tabby tom

 **Apprentice,Havenpaw**

 **Robinwing—** tortoiseshell-and-white tom

 **Petalfur—** gray-and-white she-cat

 **Grasspelt—** light brown tom

 **Rushtail—** light brown tabby tom

 **Apprentice, Heronpaw** (brown tabby tom)

 **Troutstream—** pale gray tabby she-cat

 **Mossyfoot—** brown-and-white she-cat

 **Hollowflight—** dark brown tabby tom

 **Mosspelt** -tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

 **Apprentice, Perchpaw**

 **Shimmerpelt** -silver she-cat

 **Lakeheart** -gray tabby she-cat

 **Heronwing** -dark gray-and-black tom

 **Apprentices:**

 **Lizardpaw** —light brown tom

 **Havenpaw** —black-and-white she-cat

 **Perchpaw** —gray-and-white she-cat

 **Queens:**

 **Duskfur—** brown tabby she-cat (mother to Podkit, a tom, and Curlkit, a she-cat)

 **Mosspelt—** tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

 **Icewing** —white she-cat with blue eyes

 **Petalfur** —gray-and-white she-cat

 **Elders:**

 **Pouncetail—** ginger-and-white tom

 ** _Animorphs_**

 **Jake—** muscular golden tabby tom with amber eyes

 **Cassie—** small and lithe black she-cat with golden eyes

 **Marco—** very short grey tom with amber eyes

 **Rachel—** long-furred brown she-cat with reddish-ginger front paws and blue eyes.

 **Tobias—** small and lean mottled tortoiseshell with white underbelly, a ginger tail, and golden amber eyes

 **Ax—** lean blue-grey tom with a long tail, long legs, and green eyes

 ** _Other Cats Outside the Clans_**

 **Smoky—** muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace

 **Coriander—** tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat who lives with Smoky

 ** _Other Animals_**

 **Midnight—** a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea

* * *

 **Sorry for the misleading word count, but I wanted to get the allegiances out of the way ASAP. The other chapters are expected to be at _least_ around 4k words.**

 **Now I'll talk about the story itself for a bit. Although it's labeled as _Warriors_** **/ _Animorph_ crossover, I also added something from a book called _The Cat Master_. Mainly though, I'm just going to try to merge the fandoms so that either side can pop up and understand the story. Expect to see gradual world build up that you will have to bear through if you already know both book series.**

 **I would say more, but this word count is now almost half of non-story material, so I'll let you figure out stuff on your own.**

 ***END OF RANSMISSION*-06/18/2015**


	2. Chapter 1

**Yes! Chapter 1! I decided to post this at the same time as the prologue because frankly, I didn't like the prologue. Now this chapter has heavy Animorph world building, but to people who are new to the Animorphs Hakuna Matata. Read and you'll see why.**

* * *

 _~Rachel~_

I woke up to a very musty and familiar scent. I rolled over as I tried to get away from the foul country-smell, but it was everywhere. If it wasn't for the fact that I felt too comfortable to be sleeping on hay, I would've though I spent the night in Cassie's barn. Then again, I might've fallen asleep in her barn, since I could now I identify that musty odor as one hundred percent smelly, itchy, barn hay. Those dratted stalks probably covered my hair already; I could already see the hours of work it would take to fix this bed head.

Oh right, I almost forgot the introductions. I'm Rachel. It's just Rachel, my last name is confidential. Before you ask, no, I am not a government spy or undercover private investigator. I'm a typical sixteen year old girl who likes to shop, hang out at the mall, practice gymnastics, and fight aliens on a weekly basis. If you're confused, be prepared for a long-winded explanation of how I've lived my teenaged years. If you accepted fifth sentence of this paragraph without any questions, feel free to skip this.

When I was thirteen years old, four of my friends and I decided to take a short cut home from the mall through an abandoned construction site. As luck—or something else—would have it, an alien space ship crashed down in front of us. It was like being in a cheap sci-fi movie, except there was no little green men saying, "Take us to your leader!" Instead, a four-eyed, mouthless blue centaur with a scorpion tail walked out of the ship. He was half-dead, but he took the time to warn us our planet was being invaded.

 _Yeerks_ he had called them. Parasites that looked little more than long, grey slugs were invading Earth. In fact, they had been invading for decades. Yeerks could slip into their hosts through their ears. From there the Yeerks wormed their way around the brain, taking over their hosts' body _permanently_. They had access to all of their hosts' memories as well, which allowed their infestation to remain unnoticed. The one weakness the Yeerks have is their necessity to feed. The food they give to their host brings no nourishment to them; instead, they have to exit their host to absorb Kandora rays. Basically, they get an artificial sun tan while bathing in a small swimming pool. It must be a fun activity for a Yeerk, but looking at all those writhing Yeerks waiting to acquire a host made me sick.

Now, where was I? Or right, the centaur—Andalite, actually—told us that his people would be coming to aid us, but they would take at least three years to reach us. By that time, the Yeerks would've already won the war. As a last ditch effort, he used a small blue cube from his spaceship to give us a power his race had produced through advanced technology. He gave us the ability to morph into any animal we touched for two hours at a time. Then he died. Rather, one of his enemies—who soon became the bane our existence—ate our alien friend _alive_. The mental image of that still gives me nightmares.

So after we made a rather cowardly retreat, we decided that we would use our powers to defend Earth until the reinforcements arrived. Since we were officially a "superhero team" our group clown Marco decided we should call ourselves the _Animorphs_. Since the dubbing of our group name, we've acquired a new member, another Andalite name Ax; and we've been fighting for about three years, waiting for the promised Andalite reinforcements to allow us to end this war once and for all.

 _What happened last night?_ I wondered I tried to make sense of what was going on around me. Then I mentally shrugged. _Breakfast smells ready, so all other questions can wait,_ I decided.

I immediately rolled over and stood up, only to clumsily fall to the ground again. "Ouch," I muttered. Then I licked the roof of my mouth with my tongue. _Gah, it feels like I have fuzz all over my tongue!_ I inwardly complained. _To make it even worse, my balance is horrible! What did I do to myself last night?_

I stared at the barn ceiling as if I was looking for answers. Then I frowned. "That doesn't look right," I muttered to myself. This roof resembled the one in Cassie's barn, but I was definitely not in our old meeting place. Wait, our _old_ meeting place! Suddenly I remembered that my friends and I had fled our homes a few months ago when we realized Yeerks were at the verge of discovering that we were human children instead of a handful of leftover Andalite warriors. I wasn't safe in a barn, I wasn't safe anywhere around civilization! I immediately sprang up again, but fell flat on my face this time.

"Come on, legs, work," I grumbled lowly in case anyone was nearby. My legs felt fine, so I decided to look to see why I was having trouble. When I did so, I nearly screamed.

Luckily, my life in a war allowed me to remain calm in all circumstances. Which is why, despite my shock, I managed to keep my head when I realized that my entire body was covered in fur. In fact, this wasn't my body at all. I quickly realized I was in a cat morph, but it was an unfamiliar one. The only cat morph I had was Fluffer McKitty, and he was a black and white house cat. The cat body I was in had very long fur that was brown in color, except for my paws, which were a reddish-ginger color. But not only was this body strikingly different in appearances, it also felt different. McKitty had very soft instincts of hunting and playing. This cat's instincts were geared towards fighting and survival. Not only was its brain built for toughness, but so were its muscles! As McKitty I was surprised to find I could jump three times my height, but as this cat I literally _felt_ like I could do it. My muscles weren't bulky, but they were solid. Whatever cat I had acquired wasn't a fat housecat or a scrawny alley cat.

Still, I was bothered that I didn't remember morphing into this cat. A sudden thought hit me. _How long have I been in morph?!_

Earlier I said that the time limit for morphing was two hours, right? Well, I didn't quite explain that properly. One _could_ stay in morph for longer, but then they would be a _nothlit_ : a person trapped in morph, _forever_. Tobias, my not-quite-boyfriend, was trapped as a red-tail hawk after our first battle against the Yeerks. Luckily, he managed to regain his ability to morph a few months later, but he was an exception to the rule. If my fears were true, then I would be stuck as a furry feline ball of muscle for the rest of my life. I quickly imagined my human self, my long and flowing blond hair, my tall and slim feminine figure, and my striking blue eyes. I held my breath for several seconds, but I couldn't feel any changes to my body.

I hung my head as the reality sunk in. "It's not the end of the world, Rachel. Tobias lived as hawk for three years and he's happier than ever. I could do the same." Unsurprisingly, my pep talk did nothing to lift my spirits. I decided to switch tactics and see if any of my teammates were in the area. {Jake! Cassie! Marco! Ax! Tobias!} I tried to call out mentally. I forgot to mention earlier that while we were in morph we were capable of using thought-speak—a form of telepathy—to communicate. Using thought-speak allowed us to have private conversations as long as we were in the same general area, which is why I began to get really worried when no responded after a few seconds. {Jake? Tobias! Is anyone there? Cassie! Marco, this had better not be your idea of a joke! Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill! Hello? Anyone there? Hello!}

I waited a few moments, but I still received no response. It was official, they were rather out of range, or unable to respond. Both situations were bad. I sprang to my feet—no, paws—and looked around for a way to escape… wherever I was. As I surveyed my surroundings, I realized that I was not in ordinary barn. I could see horses standing in their stalls, and riding equipment hanging on pegs on the wall.

"What am I doing in a stable?" I wondered aloud. I decided that I wasn't going to get any answers by standing around, so I looked for a way to reach the ground floor. The closest thing I had to a landing was a stall divider that a good couple of feet below the loft I was standing on. With practiced ease I slipped into my feline instincts and made the jump. It was short, but it felt exhilarating. I then jumped down into the stall, landing in a pile of hay next to the stall's occupant. The horse neighed and took a few steps away from me, but it thankfully didn't go into a panic.

The feline in me was dying for more exercise, but I had other things on my mind. I had to go find the others, and it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to reach them through thought-speak. Since I obviously couldn't shout for them, I was going to have to search the hard way. Spying the ajar barn door, I began to make my way to it when a sudden caterwaul made me twist around in surprise.

A horse was neighing and moving restlessly in one of the stalls. I sighed. It was probably just some barn cat. I had turned towards the door again when I heard a familiar voice yell, "Honey, someone shrunk me!"

Only one person could have been making ridiculous movie references while screaming in utter terror. "Marco?" I darted towards the stall and skidded under the door. With disappointment, I realized that there was only a small grey cat rolling around and scaring the horse. Then I heard it talk.

"My legs! I can't find my legs!" the cat exclaimed as it kicked out its short legs. "Eek! Not my legs! Not my legs! Not my legs! I really don't like this dream! I've never been a cat in my nightmares! I need to wake up! Battling Yeerks is better than this!"

"Marco?" I asked cautiously.

The cat ceased its frantic rolling. "Xena?" it asked. Then it turned its head to look at me. "Woah, you know, I've dreamed of you before, but not like this! Are you here to take me to the land of reality?"

I rolled my eyes. Marco was famous for his ability to make light out of any serious situation. "Marco, this is reality," I told him.

He jumped to his paws. "Okay…" he said slowly as he sized me up. "Yeah, not buying it. If this was real then I would definitely not be, well, here. Plus, I'm a cat. A tiny, fuzz brained, cat. Seriously? This is beyond insane."

"Are you trapped in morph too?" I asked.

This time he rolled his eyes. "Nope! I just decided to stay in the body of this cute little fuzzball for the fun of it!" he said chirpily.

"Marco, we're trapped in cat morphs and I really don't need your sass right now," I growled.

"Xena. Xena. Xena. Simple figment of my imagination, Xena," he said as he shook his head ruefully. "You should know that I wouldn't be tricked so easily." He attempted wag a finger, but he ended up only waving his paw. "I know as well as the next Animorph that we can only communicate through thought-speak while in morph. If we were really trapped in morph, you would be mewing."

I stopped short. He was right. "So… we're sharing the same dream?" I asked.

He shook his head. "My dear Rachel, I am dreaming. You are simply a figment of my imagination." Then his eyes narrowed. "Unless this is some sort of Yeerk trick."

Unfortunately, he made a good point. The Yeerks had a variety of technology at their disposal, and I doubt that we could really dismiss dream simulation as a possibility. "If this a Yeerk trick, then I'm not part of it," I assured him. "And I can prove it."

"How?" he asked suspiciously.

I pounced on him, catching him completely by surprise. I made good use of my larger size and weight, keeping him pressed to ground with still one paw free. His eyes widened in terror as I unsheathed my claws and brought them closer to his face. He fixed his eyes in a steely gaze, determined not to show weakness in front of me. I took my time to aim, and brought my paw down.

"Ow!" he yowled as I cuffed his ear with the flat of my paw. "What was…?" his voice trailed off as I started giggling. He took the opportunity to wiggle free of my grip, but I was laughing too hard to care.

"Your… face…" I got out between gasps. "Priceless!" I fell on my side as I continued to laugh at his expense.

"Ho hum," he grumbled as he began to groom his messy fur. "Wait, I'm not dreaming?"

I snorted as I rolled to my feet. "No duh, idiot."

"So we're both trapped in cat morphs," he realized. "But I've been sending out thought-speak messages! Did you just ignore them all?"

I paused. "No," I replied in the confusion. "Did you hear any of mine?"

He shook his head. We spent a few moments to digest this information.

"So… any ideas?" I asked him.

He thought about it for a moment. "Let's recap. We're both trapped in cat morphs. Neither of us is receiving thought-speak messages; which means we both just _can't_ receive them, or we aren't actually sending them. Neither option sounds pleasant. From this I can conclude… we need to find the others and figure out what's going on."

If I still had hands, I would have facepalmed. "Way to string me up there, genius," I grumbled. "Now how do you suppose we find the others without thought-speak?"

"Simple, my dear Xena," he replied with as close to a British accent he could muster. "We shout at the top of our lungs until they hear us."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, seriously, how do we find them?" I asked.

"Just watch and see, my dear," he said with a wink. Then he yowled. I winced at the sharpness, and the horse in the stall with us shared the same feelings. Marco soon changed his tune to a screech of alarm as we escaped under the stall door.

"What's happening?" I could hear Jake ask.

"Prince Jake!" Ax's voice filled with panic. "Why do I have a mouth?"

"Guys?! What's going on?" Cassie was sharing Ax's panic.

"My wings!" Tobias screeched from the loft. "What's happened to me?"

"So they all decided to wake up now?" I grumbled.

Marco gave me a sly smirk before addressing the other Animorphs. "Attention, my fellow Animorphs! I'm afraid we are all trapped in the bodies of domesticated felines! Please remain calm and try to make your way down to the first floor, in front of the third to stall to your right from the door. Thank you and have Yeerk free day!"

I cuffed his ear. "Did you seriously think that would help?" I asked as I heard the sounds of shifting hay.

He shrugged. "It got their attention and gave directions. I'd say it was pretty effective."

From one of the empty stalls a large tabby stepped out. "Marco?" it asked in Jake's voice.

"In the flesh!" Marco replied perkily. Then he looked himself over. "Well, kinda sorta," he amended.

"What's going on?" A slim black cat asked as she clambered out of a pile of hay on the far side of the barn. Surprisingly, I could hear her quite clearly. For once I was grateful for those super-sensitive cat ears.

"Cassie?" I guessed.

"Rachel?" she asked as her eyes widened.

"Prince Jake? Tobias?" A long-legged grey cat asked as he ducked out from a stall. "Does anyone know what happened to us?"

"I'd gladly give them a piece of my mind if I did," a tortoiseshell growled from a loft. Two swift hops later and he was standing with the rest of us. "If this is someone's idea of a joke I do _not_ find it funny." His eyes were narrowed into thin slits.

Now that we were all together, I took a closer look at each of our new bodies. Marco had very short coat grey fur. I took note of a thin silver stripe that ran from the back of his neck to the start of his tailbone. His eyes were deep amber color; and, as usual, he was easily the shortest member of our group. He stood at least a head shorter than I did, and I wasn't a giant by feline standards. Still, I could see that despite his size he was not lacking in muscle. His body was very compact for someone of his size.

Cassie's fur was sleek and completely black with no markings at all. Unlike Marco and I, she had a lean and lithe body. Despite this, I could see toned muscles under her fur. Her eyes were golden, and reminded me of her wolf morph. Cassie stood taller than Marco, but still had to tilt her head up to look me in the eye.

Tobias easily had the most distinctive appearance of our group. He had a mottled tortoiseshell pelt, which I remember Cassie telling me was unusually for tomcats. His underbelly was white, and his tail was distinctly ginger. His eyes were a familiar golden amber color that I recognized from his old hawk body. Mentally I decided that this was really starting to look like someone's idea of a bad joke. Tobias had a lean body type like Cassie, but he was slightly more muscular. And although he wasn't right next to Cassie for comparison, I approximated that they were around the same height.

Ax was easily the tallest of our group. He stood almost a head above me with those long and lean legs of his. At first, I thought his fur was grey, but then I realized it had a blue tinge to it. Before now, I hadn't even known that was a thing. His eyes were green just like his eyes in his normal Andalite form. His tail was disproportionally long, but thankfully didn't have anything crazy like a piece of bone jutting out at the end.

At this point, I was unsurprised that Jake looked like a miniature tiger. Actually, he was a golden tabby, but those tabby markings gave him dark stripes that made him look like a golden tiger. His eyes were amber, which only enforced his tiger appearance. He at stood eye level with me, but he was considerably more bulky. I could literally see the muscles rippling under his striped fur.

"Does anyone see something completely wrong here?" Marco asked, as he looked everyone over.

"Don't remind me," Tobias hissed as he lashed his tail angrily.

"We all appear to resemble our battle morphs," Ax noted.

Jake nodded. "Some of us also have a bit of our human selves as well." He pointed his tail towards me. "Rachel, your eyes are still the same shade of blue as they normally were."

I sighed in relief. I still had some part of me that was familiar, even if it wasn't quite the same as being human.

"It's not that!" Marco exclaimed. "Did anyone fail to notice how short I am?"

"I believe that it is normal for you to be lacking in stature," Ax replied factually.

"Connect the dots Ax-man! There is no way I would agree to morphing into a tiny little kitten!" Marco complained. "I'll bet you my entire fur coat that this rather Crayak or Ellimist's fault!"

"Who else could it be? Santa Claus?" I asked sarcastically.

Crayak and Ellimist were ridiculously powerful beings capable of warping reality. They were mortal enemies, and contested each other in "games" to avoid an actual fight that could blow up the entire universe. Ellimist was on more of the side of "good", so he frequently had us do his dirty work in his games. Crayak was completely evil, and loved using the Yeerks to attempt to destroy us, and various parts of the galaxy. Frankly, I didn't trust either of them, but at least Crayak was more open about his evil madness. If I had to bet on which one decided to turn us into cats and leave us in a random stable, I would put my money on the dodgy-but-occasionally-useful Ellimist.

"I can't demorph," Tobias grumbled.

"We must've gone over our time limit while we slept," said Cassie sensibly.

"I am afraid I cannot recall us morphing into domesticated felines," said Ax. "Especially ones with such symbolic imagery."

"Does anyone remember what we were doing last?" Jake asked. "I can recall something about a campfire, but beyond that my memory is drawing a blank."

"I can remember that there was something about a big battle," said Marco thoughtfully. "But the details are fuzzy."

"I thought we were waiting for Andalite reinforcements," I said in confusion.

"I remember we were planning something," said Ax thoughtfully. "But I cannot recall what."

"I remember hunting for mice," Tobias grumbled.

There was a pregnant silence. We all turned to Cassie with questioning looks on our faces. "Sorry, I can't seem to recall anything clearly," she said apologetically. The other accepted this grudgingly, but I was suspicious. I had noticed her tail flick as she said that, and although I didn't have a grasp on feline body language, I knew Cassie well enough to know she was hiding something. However, I decided to let it go, since Cassie would never hold something back unless she knew she needed to. If she were going to tell us, she would do it in her own time.

"So… do any ideas, fearless leader?" Marco asked Jake. "Just to give you a run-down; thought-speak isn't working. We can communicate with each other by talking despite being trapped in morph. We don't know where we are. And finally, this has all the fingerprints of one of the Ellimist's games."

Jake was silent for a few moments as his forehead scrunched up in concentration. Then he sighed. "Looks like we'll have to do some exploring," he decided. "Let's get outside and see if we can find some clues. It's hard to think in the smell of hay and horse sweat."

We all nodded and turned towards the stable door, but to our surprise, a ginger cat was stitting the open gap between the door and the wall.

"Uh, guys? When did he get here?" Marco asked as we instinctively moved into a defensive semicircle.

"Probably while we were all talking, genius," I snapped as I kept my eyes on the cat.

Suddenly, Tobias straightened up. "Did anyone else realize we just got worked up over a cat?" he asked.

We all paused. "Must be the instincts," said Jake as he relaxed his position. "We're supposed to be careful when there are other cats around."

"Prince Jake, what should we do about it?" Ax asked.

"You do realize I'm a he and not an it, correct?" the cat asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"It speaks!" Marco exclaimed.

"He's a he, Marco," Cassie reminded Marco.

He shrugged his tiny shoulders. "I just wanted to say that line."

"You certainly are a strange bunch," the cat remarked as he looked us up and down. "I hope this is a result of a night's sleep with horses and not your usual behavior."

"I take offense to that!"

"Marco…" I growled warningly.

I could tell this cat was not to be taken lightly. He acted friendly enough, but he had the serious demeanor I found often in Jake. My feline brain was trying to say something about him, but I couldn't figure out what. He didn't look all that intimidating. His build and size were similar to mine, but he didn't seem to have my aggressive temperament. His coat was a bright ginger color. His eyes were golden and somehow made him seem older than his physical appearance suggested.

"Who are you?" Jake finally asked.

The ginger cat dipped his head in a quick bow. "My name is Buddy," he introduced himself, "and I have been sent here to be your guide. Let me be the first to welcome you to the outskirts of the Lake Territories, Animorphs."

(line break)

 _~Lionblaze~_

 _One month ago…_

"Has anyone seen Jayfeather?" Lionblaze asked his fellow clanmates as he wandered through camp. Several of them shook their heads as they resumed grooming themselves in the new warmth of newleaf.

"He's out collecting herbs," said Leafpool as she approached him. "Why do you ask?"

"I haven't seen him since sunrise," Lionblaze replied with a worried frown. "It's already sunhigh, and I'm getting a little..."

"Worried?" Leafpool finished for him questioningly. She raised an eyebrow when he didn't respond immediately. "Your powers may have faded, but don't you know that Jayfeather know how to take care of himself?"

"I know that he's not helpless," Lionblaze muttered defensively. "I just… had a bad feeling about him."

Leafpool looked at him strangely. "Jayfeather and Dovewing are the ones with the ability to sense things beyond what any normal cat can," she mewed. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yes! No. I don't know," Lionblaze admitted. "I'll just be relieved to have him back at camp."

Leafpool purred. "He's probably out checking on the beds of herbs," she said. "I'll go see if I can find him and convince him to come here and eat something."

"I'll come to," Lionblaze offered eagerly.

Leafpool chuckled. "Don't think you can trick me into let you out of camp with your paw messed up like that." She indicated one of his forepaws that he was keeping slightly off the ground. "Jayfeather wanted you to remain in camp until he gave you the go ahead."

Lionblaze groaned. "Can't you just give me the go ahead instead?" he pleaded. "You're a medicine cat! I mean, you have the training and experience," he corrected himself.

"I wouldn't let you out of camp right now even if I still was the clan medicine cat," Leafpool mewed with a shake of her head. "Knowing you, you'd probably push yourself even harder instead of taking it easy on that paw of yours. You stay in camp; I'll go fetch your littermate."

Lionblaze flattened his ear as he watched his mother leave camp. He normally wasn't the kind of cat that worried about everything, but being stuck in camp was getting to him. He was a warrior, and he liked being useful. Now he was stuck in camp, as helpless as one of the elders.

"Hey! Young'un!" Purdy called out to Lionblaze. "Come over here!"

Lionblaze grumbled under his breath as he made his way over to the old tom. Purdy had spent his life as a loner, hence his non-clan name. However, he had earned a spot in the elders den for his assistance in helping the clans make their journey to the lake. He was a nice cat and all, but he was a bit full of himself and liked telling stories had dubious truthfulness.

"Yes, Purdy?" Lionblaze asked the old tom politely.

"What do you think you're doing, moping around camp like that?" Purdy admonished him. "Young'uns these days, they get a little twist in the paw and suddenly the entire forest is crushing dorn on them. Now I remember one time there was this tree-"

Lionblaze cut Purdy off before the elder could launch into another tall tale. "Thanks for the advice, Purdy, but I'm not moping about my paw."

Purdy paused. "Then what else could you be sulking about?" he asked.

"I'm not sulking about anything," Lionblaze grumbled. "I'm just bored."

This caused Purdy to laugh. "Just bored, he says! Just bored!"

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Cinderheart already gave me a full lecture."

Purdy strained to stifled his laughter. "Aw, I'm just pulling your tail. Greystripe and Dustpelt are nice denmates and all, but this is even more entertaining than sharing stories!"

"Great…" said Lionblaze drily. "I'm going to get something from the fresh-kill pile, want me to get you something?"

Purdy shook his head. "Thanks, but Cherrypaw and Molepaw came by here with a rabbit not too long ago. I think those two are trying to butter up us old cats to cats to persuade Brablestar into speeding up a certain ceremony."

Lionblaze rolled his eyes. "Their six moons of training are almost over. They'll probably become warriors by the end of the moon if they pass their assessments," he meowed. "There's no reason for them to try to rush things."

"Tell that to them," Purdy said with a purr as he flicked his tail towards the camp entrance.

Lionblazed turned to see Molepaw and Cherrypaw bounding into camp with their mentors following leisurely. Molepaw was carefully biting down on the tails of two mice, and Cherrypaw had a large blackbird in her jaws. The smell of fresh-kill made Lionblaze drool slightly as he realized that he had been in too grumpy of a mood to eat at dawn. He let his feelings of hunger sit for a moment though, since the clan had to be fed first. He would have to wait for the other non-warrior cats in camp to eat before he could pick out his own meal. _At least its newleaf now,_ he thought in relief. _If it was leaf-bare, I might've had to spend the day without a decent meal._

Patiently, he waited until Daisy and Brightheart and her kits had chosen their pieces of fresh-kill before making his way to the pile. He picked up a scrawny squirrel and moved it near the warrior's den to eat in peace.

"Mind if I join you?" Lionblaze looked up to see Jayfeather gazing at him with his blind blue eyes. A plump mouse was resting by his paws.

Lionblaze shrugged. "Sure."

Jayfeather waited until both of them had taken a few bites before saying, "I don't need you worrying about me."

Lionblaze winced at his brother's harsh tone. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little jumpy since I'm stuck in camp," he apologized.

"Get used to it," Jayfeather said coldly. "Our powers are just about gone; you're not as invincible as you once were. And considering how you have a knack for getting into trouble-"

"Coming from the cat who snuck out of camp more than anyone in clan history," Lionblaze shot back.

"-it's more than likely you'll be confined to camp for injuries more serious than a sprained paw," Jayfeather finished as he ignored Lionblaze's interruption.

"You're such a downer, you know that?"

"I'm realistic," Jayfeather grumbled.

Lionblaze grinned as he dove back into his squirrel. Age had only sharpened Jayfeather's biting remarks, but Lionblaze knew that underneath that gruff exterior was a cat that rivaled him in adventurousness and courage.

Suddenly, two cats burst into camp, sending a spike of alarm through camp. Lionblaze had no trouble making out Dovewing and Ivypool even from the distance.

"What's going on?" Some cat meowed.

"Are we being attacked?" Another asked.

Dovewing and Ivypool shook their heads. "We need to see Bramblestar," said Dovewing urgently.

"He's out on a hunting patrol," said Squirrelflight. "You can wait in his den."

Lionblaze unsheathed his claws and flexed them slowly. "Don't even think about it," said Jayfeather disapprovingly. "I know what you're thinking, and unless the ShadowClan are invading there's no way I'm letting you out of camp."

Lionblaze sheathed his claws with a grunt. "I just wish I knew what spooked those two."

"If Bramblestar thinks that the information should be shared with the clan, then you'll know along with the rest of them," said Jayfeather. "Until then, all we can do is wait."

* * *

 **Not quite 5.5k, but close enough for me since a lot of it was backstories, explanations, and the like. I wish I could end this chapter on a more dramatic note though.**

 **Anyway... as you probably noticed this story has the Animorphs appearing in the Warriors universe. Why? Simple, it was the most logical way to get the two worlds to merge. The Animorphs are teenaged soldiers devoted to defending earth to alien invasions. The clan cats are sentient felines with the occassion (scratch that) _rare_ superpower. I did what I could to help them merge.**

 **Okay, that was a pointless rant. Moving on!**

 **I would say more, but that would discourage you from asking questions. I _H_ _ope_ you liked this chapter. If not, shoot me a review. If you did like it, reviews still appreciated. Reviews are food for the author!**

 ***END OF TRANSMISSION*-06/18/2015**


	3. Chapter 2

**This chapter will rather confuse things for you or make everything clearer. You've been warned.**

* * *

 _~Tobias~_

"My name is Buddy," the orange cat introduced himself, "and I have been sent here to be your guide. Let me be the first to welcome you to the outskirts of the Lake Territories, Animorphs."

"I couldn't care less what your name is," I snapped irritably. I tried to pull my wings in tightly, only to remember I didn't have wings anymore. So instead, I bristled my fur and barred my fangs.

If I intimidated Buddy, the other cat hid it well. "The most aggressive one is supposed to be Rachel, but you're obviously not her. Tobias, I presume?"

"How do you know our names?" Jake asked. His eyes were narrowed and his gaze was hard. I knew he was considering ordering us to attack, and I was all too welcome to the idea.

Buddy sighed. "As much as I would like to give you an explanation now, I must insist that we get moving," he mewed. "The cats that live here are out for a walk at the moment, but they'll be back at any minute and I don't think it would be wise to be here when they arrive."

I snorted, knowing that no barn cats could take us down regardless of our current forms.

Still, I could see Jake was deep in thought about our next course of action. Finally, he turned to look at all of us, before facing Buddy again and replying, "Agreed. Lead the way."

(line break)

We followed Buddy out of the stables, past a fence, and off into the middle of nowhere. The second we exited the barn my senses were overwhelmed. As a hawk, I mainly used my eyes and maybe my ears when searching for prey. As a cat, my eyesight was much weaker, but my other senses were stronger than ever. My sense of smell was overpowering. I could smell the grass underneath me, the horses and hay in the distance, and several other scents I couldn't identify. My sense of hearing surpassed a hawk's ability, I could easily ear the bugs that rustled in the grass, and the sounds of horses at full gallop. I shivered. The sounds reminded me of the time my friends and I travelled into the past. It wasn't pretty. Jake died in the Revolutionary War. I wanted nothing more than to take off and fly to the sky so I could get away from everything. Unfortunately, cats were not quite as good at flying as hawks were, so I was forced to struggle to shut out the majority of what I was sensing.

After walking for what felt like forever, we finally arrived at a large bush. Frankly, I was unimpressed by Buddy's choice of accommodations. While it was big enough for all seven of us to fit comfortably underneath its branches, it didn't seem like anything special.

"You should really consider hiring an interior designer," Marco commented as he scrutinized the bush. "I think some drapes would be lovely over there, and a nice welcome mat would do well over there, an easy chair over-"

Rachel swatted his ear and growled to silence him.

"I believe we should get to business," Jake ordered. The rest of Animorph suddenly became alert as Jake focused his attention on Buddy.

The orange cat nodded. "I will answer as many of your questions as possible to the extent of my ability," he replied politely.

"Anyone else wondering why the cat talks like a stuffy old English professor?" Marco whispered loudly.

Jake nudged Marco without shifting his attention to the stranger in our midst. "Where and when are we?" he asked.

"South of the local stables, and east of the nearest human city," Buddy replied. "As for when, it's the first month of newleaf." Seeing our confused glances, he added, "That's the terms the locals use. I would normally say: it's the second week of spring. Does that help?"

Cassie nodded. "That means it's probably mid-March to early-April," she clarified for us. We all nodded in understanding.

"Wait, so you can't tell us what state we're in?" Marco asked Buddy.

Buddy looked him up and down. "You seem healthy enough to me," he replied.

Marco stared at him for a moment in confusion, and then sighed. "Never mind," he mumbled.

"What year is this?" Jake asked Buddy, regaining our guide's attention.

Buddy scrunched up his face in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he replied apologetically.

I growled in frustration. "Well, you're useless!" I snapped.

"Chewing people out is my job, Tobias," Rachel reminded me sharply. I could tell she was only teasing me though. "You're supposed to sit there and glare."

Jake let out a low growl to silence us. "Do you know how we got here?" he asked as he turned his attention back to Buddy.

The feline nodded. "A being who calls himself "The Ellimist" claims that responsibility," he replied.

"Called it!" Marco and Rachel exclaimed at the same time.

Jake frowned, and for good reason. The Ellimist—or just Ellimist, if you knew him as well as we did—was a very tricky person to deal with. No, person doesn't quite cut it. He was not a person in the sense we knew of. Rather, he was an entity, a being with unimaginable power. It was definitely within his power to whisk us away and turn us into cats, though sending another cat to assist us was not usually a part of his plan. And let's not forget the fact that we could communicate with this animal as if we were speaking English. Whatever the Ellimist had in store for us, it was probably pretty big if we had to be put into little packages.

"Did he leave some tips for us?" Cassie asked. "Hints? Advice? Anything?"

"Not exactly," Buddy replied with a small frown. I almost grinned at the sight. "I'm supposed to teach you everything I can, and I know what you are here to do. However, aside from that—"

"Mind telling us what we're doing here then?" Marco asked loudly.

"You don't know?" Buddy asked in surprise.

"I'm afraid we don't," said Jake. "We were simply dumped here without warning or explanation."

Buddy gave us an appraising look. "It appears that The Ellimist is beyond what I had originally thought," he said. "I'm tempted to ask, but it's _I_ who is meant to be assisting _you_."

"With what?" I asked grumpily.

"More importantly, what are we doing here?" Rachel asked.

"Knowledge of the land, its inhabitants, and their customs," Buddy replied immediately. "As well as skills in hunting and fighting, if the need be. As for your purpose here, Ellimist said that you will be responsible for assisting them in their time of crisis."

"Wait, Ellimist sent us here to help some cats with their fleas?" Marco asked. "We fight aliens for a living! Can't he find a giant mouse to do that instead?"

'Aliens?" Buddy queried, feeling the unfamiliar word roll off his tongue.

"What Marco means to say," Jake said, "is that we're fighters. Or soldiers, or warriors, whatever you want to call it. We spend our time fighting for survival against all odds. No offense, but I'm pretty sure there are better things we could be doing."

"What if this is all a test?" Cassie suggested as she surveyed our faces. "What if Ellimist wants us to be able to adapt to different environments, and this is his way of testing us. After all, this job seems relatively simple and shouldn't take too long."

"We can't morph," Marco reminded her.

"We'll just muscle our way through," Rachel said with a confident growl.

"We'll need to get used to our new bodies," Jake reminded us. "Since my battle morph is already a tiger, I'm probably going to be the best fighter among us. But we all still need to make sure we've fully adapted into these forms."

"New… bodies?" Buddy echoed.

That was when we finally realized that the cat was not familiar with our abilities. "Since the Ellimist trusts you to assist us, then I hope I can trust you to keep our secret," Jake told Buddy. The cat nodded. "We're not normally cats. Four of us are human, Tobias is a hawk, and Ax is a creature that lives very, _very_ far away. We used to be able to change our form at will, but right now… it appears we're stuck like this."

Buddy stared at us. For a moment I thought he was call us crazy, but when he opened his mouth all he said was, "It appears some of the wildest stories have a grain of truth to them. I never thought I'd meet a creature of fables."

"You believe us already?" Ax queried. We all turned to him, and I realized that this was the first time he had spoken since we had left the barn. "And you're not afraid?"

Buddy shrugged, something I found very surprising for a cat to do. "I've seen enough in my life to be a little more accepting of the unusual," he replied. "You can feel that I'm different, can't you?"

At first I didn't catching his meaning, but the more I thought about it, I realized there was something different about him. His presence released a type of aura that was a mixture between Cassie's and Jake's. It made me feel at peace, safe, and secure. He seemed rooted, but flowing at the same time. It was… strange to say the least.

"You're a…" Ax paused as he tried to come up with a word. "What do you say… nature sage?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You have a strong connection to the earth around you," Cassie clarified. "I feel it too. No wonder the Ellimist picked you; you're as strange as we are."

"Not to knock you from this _delightful_ conversation," Rachel interrupted. "But can we please can back to the issue at hand?"

"You don't have hands, you have paws," Buddy corrected her.

She made a face. "I'm not going to change the way I speak just because I'm stuck as a pretty feline."

"If you're going to help the cats here, you're going to need to speak like them," Buddy replied. "Luckily, I've been keeping an ear out on the wind. I may not speak the way they do, but I can at least teach you some of their customs and phrases.

Rachel grumbled, but Jake nodded. "There's no time like the present," he said decisively. "What do we learn first?"

(line break)

 _One half-moon earlier…_

 _~Dovewing~_

Dovewing was excited when Squirrelflight had announced that both she and Ivypool would be attending the gathering. As always, the two littermates were happy to spend as much time together as possible, and attending the Gathering together was a satisfying usage of their time.

"I wonder if Bramblestar will tell the other clans about the rogues," Ivypool whispered to Dovewing as the group of cats made their journey.

Dovewing shrugged. When they had reported as many as four different rouge cat scents north of the clearing, he had taken the news calmly and announced it to the clan the next day. The trails had been investigated, but since none of the rogues had crossed the border, Bramblestar had encouraged the clan to think about the issue too much. "He might consider it strictly clan business," she mewed.

"But the rogue trail led towards ShadowClan territory," Ivypool reminded her. "I wouldn't be surprised if there rogues surrounding our entire border, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

A warrior in front of them turned around. "Hush you two," he ordered. "We're in RiverClan territory and we don't want to appear weak."

"I doubt rogues hovering _outside_ of the territory makes us weak, Spiderleg," Ivypool commented with an eye roll. "After all, doesn't that mean they're too scared to approach the border?"

The older warrior growled and turned his head back around. Ivypool and Dovewing shared a giggle at the tom's expense.

The fallen log that led to the gathering place was as slick as ever from the lapping waters of the lake that flowed underneath it. The trunk gradually thinned out, but it still made a solid bridge from the shore to the small island that housed the Gatherings. Here, under light of the full moon, all four clans could gather in peace and discuss the events of the past moon.

When the ThunderClan cats finally made it to the other side, they discovered that the other three clans were already there and waiting. Doveing could see the clan leaders atop the lower branches of an oak tree that lay in the center of the clearing. Onestar of the WindClan and Mistystar of the RiverClan greeted Bramblestar warmly, but Blackstar of the ShadowClan was not there to greet him. Instead, his deputy, Rowanclaw, was sitting in his place.

Dovewing frowned. Deputies only took the place of their leaders during gatherings if their leader was unable to do so. The previous gathering Blackstar had announced that the ShadowClan had sickness among its members, but the season for sickness had long since passed. There was very little chance that Blackstar was confined to camp due to something like greencough.

Onestar yowled to call the meeting to order. All of the gathered cats stopped whatever they were doing to turn and listen to the leaders. "Prey in the WindClan is running well!" the WindClan leader announced. "The ending of leaf-bare has brought rabbits from their holes in abundance. Additionally, Sunstrike has moved to the nursery!"

Many cats offered their congratulations before Mistystar stepped up next.

"Prey is swimming well in the RiverClan," the leader proudly announced. "The last of the ice is gone, and we are free to fish again! We also have two new apprentices, Specklepaw and Shimmerpaw!"

The two mentioned apprentice reared on their hind legs to be noticed in the crowd, which gave the pair hearty cheers.

"That is all the RiverClan has to announce."

Rowanclaw dipped his head towards Bramblestar to encourage him to go no next. But the ThunderCLan leader shook his head, allowing Rowanclaw to the chance to speak.

Dovewing played close attention the ShadowClan tom's words, eager to learn the news about BlackStar. "Prey in the ShadowClan is running well!" Rowanclaw announced, though it was clear that his heart was not into what he was saying. "The warmth of newleaf as brought back the frogs and lizards, and all of our warriors have full bellies."

Then Rowanclaw sighed. "Amidst this good news, I am sorry to say that this moon has not come without its share of hardships," Rowanclaw said mournfully. "Blackstar died half a moon ago due to a lingering bout of greencough. He was on his last life." A gasp rang out from the crowd. Blackstar hadn't been without his faults, but he had been the eldest of the four leaders and had made the ShadowClan strong. "One of our elders, Cederheart also passed away this moon." This did nothing to help the mood of the gathered cats.

"I have made my journey to the Moonpool, and I am now Rowanstar. I have appointed Ratscar as my deputy."

Among the cheering for the new leader and deputy, Dovewing could hear a soft hiss from a cat in the crowd. While her superior sense had all but faded away, she could recognize Lionblaze's growl from anywhere. She guessed he still resented Ratscar for beating him up and taunting about it afterwards, but Lionblaze had been the one to provoke the fight and lose it on purpose. She mentally shrugged, hoping that Lionblaze was mature enough to prevent grudges and rivalries from clouding his judgement.

Rowanstar stepped back and allowed Bramblestar to speak.

"Prey has been running well in the ThunderClan!" Bramblestar announced. "Our clan also is thriving well in the warmth of Newleaf!" Bramblestar paused for a moment, and then continued. "However, I'm sorry to announce that there may be trouble for the ShadowClan."

Rowanstar's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Bramblestar shook his head. "It is not ThunderClan that is the cause for concern," he mewed. "Rather, some of our warriors reported rogue scents by the clearing." A collective hiss rang through the gathering of cats. "They did not cross into our territory, but their scent trails showed that they would be skirting the edge of ShadowClan territory. I would suggest you keep an eye out."

Rowanstar hesitated for a moment, and then confessed, "We've scented rougue along our border as well."

Dovewing gasped, as did several other cats. _What mousebrained band of rogues would dare travel next to the borders of two different groups?_ she wondered.

"The RiverClan reports the same," Mistystar added.

All eyes were on Onestar. He slowly nodded. "Rogue scents cover the Horseplace and surrounding area," he announced. "The farm cats even visited our territory to ask if we knew of them."

"Those furballs should think twice about attacking the RiverClan!" one cat yowled.

"No mangy rogue will ever get past our borders!" shouted another.

The Gathering was in an uproar as the clan cats shouted curses against the rogues. Dovewing ducked her down to try to drown out the sound, but almost every cat had caught onto the mob mentality.

It was a long time before the leaders finally managed to calm their clans down.

"It's great that you show courage!" Bramblestar declared. "But if these rogues are an actual threat, we'll need a plan."

"Don't tell me, the ThunderClan plans to organize an alliance between the four of us so we can band together to fight the rogues?" Onestar asked mockingly.

Bramblestar frowned. "That's not exactly what I had in mind—"

"Don't bother lying," Onestar hissed. "My clan has explored the scents outside of our territory. There are barely any more than ten different scents, with most of them in groups of two or three. The ThunderClan may need help from other clans to defend its borders, but the WindClan is strong enough to survive on its own."

"The ShadowClan also does not need help from the other clans!" Rowanstar declared.

Bramblestar nodded politely. "Is there anything else to discuss?" he asked. The other leaders shook their heads. "Then the Gathering is now over!"

Dovewing watched as the leaders stepped down. She could see Mistystar whisper something in Bramblestar's ear, but she couldn't tell what it was. Bramblestar's face showed no change as he led his clan back to their camp.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 3

**Here's another chapter for you guys!**

* * *

 _~Ax~_

"What do we learn first?" Jake asked.

A chorus of growls was his immediate response. Everyone, excluding Buddy, looked down at his or her stomach.

"It appears were in need of nourishment," I commented.

"You do not know how much I long for Big Mac right now," Marco whined.

My mouth watered at the thought of human food. "We must go to a mall for the Big Macs and cinnamon buns!" I exclaimed.

"Get a grip you two," said Tobias. "We're cats, remember? It's not like we can walk into a McDonald's and order anything."

"Maybe we could beg for scraps," I suggested. "I have seen dogs do it before. Cats too."

"Slow down, Ax," said Rachel. "I think your stomach is pulling on your reins a little too tightly. You have your Andalite pride, don't you?"

The mention of my native race snapped me out of euphoric state. "You are right, Rachel," I admitted. "I will not throw away my pride no matter how much I crave cinnamon buns. Cinnamon bunzzz." I could not help myself; it was such a fun word to say.

"You have more to think about than just your pride," said Buddy. "The nearest city is a good day's walk from here. Not only is it impractical to walk that far of a distance for your meal, but the city is also a dangerous place. You could be captured by humans or killed by dogs."

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" Marco said brightly. Then he frowned. "Wait, so cats eat mice, right? Shouldn't we have stayed in the barn then? There are plenty of mice in barns, I can attest to that personally."

"The barn cats wouldn't like if you hunted on their territory," Buddy mewed.

"We should do our best to avoid fights," Jake conceded. "So where can we hunt?"

"The area around here is unclaimed," Buddy mewed. "There isn't much prey around, but there's only seven of us. As long we split up I'm pretty sure we can have a decent catch."

"I'm not sure splitting up completely is such a good idea," said Cassie with a frown. "Buddy, are you sure this place is safe?"

"Relatively speaking it is," Buddy replied. "However—"

"There's always a however," Marco muttered.

"—I have scented multiple cats pass through here. They don't stay long and they tend to stay in small groups, but I admit that there still could be trouble if you have to defend yourself from two seasoned fighters."

"We'll split into team of two then," said Jake. "Well, two groups of two and a group of three." He looked at Buddy as he said this.

Buddy shook his head. "I'm confident in my ability to defend myself," he mewed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure my catch is going to have to make up for some of yours."

"Are you suggesting that we aren't capable of catching our own food?" Marco asked indignantly.

"Yes."

"I concur," I said as I nodded my head. "We are not hunters by nature."

"I am," Tobias said disgruntledly.

"Alright, let's pair off," announced Jake. "Cassie, you're with me. We'll be going north. Rachel and Ax, you'll take south. Tobias and Marco, you're going to hunt in the east."

"That leaves with west, I believe," said Buddy. Jake nodded. "May Mother Nature give you good hunting." He ducked out of the bush and walked with his back to the sun.

After we had gone our separate ways, I tried to use my nose to smell for prey. Then I realized something. "Rachel, Marco said that cats eat mice, correct?"

She nodded. "But they—we—can also eat squirrels, birds, and other small creatures," she added.

"But if they're our prey, wouldn't that mean we have to hunt them?"

"Yes…"

"And eat them… raw?"

She sighed. "We're cats now, Ax, we don't have much of a choice," she told me in exasperation.

"I know." I had not survived three years of brutal warfare without learning to adapt to situations. After all, humans ate meat, and I loved the taste of it. "I will do my best to accustom myself to the diet of a cat." I sniffed the air, but I couldn't make out anything in the air. I had to ask another question. "Rachel, how do you hunt as a cat? My nose doesn't seem to picking up anything that smells like food."

Rachel smirked. "You're not experienced enough to detect scents with your nose," she told me. "Cats actually smell better with their mouths than their noses. Watch." She opened her mouth wide for one point seven seconds, and then closed it. "Your turn."

I imitated her actions. Immediately a multitude of scents flooded into my mouth, including some that made my mouth water.

Rachel purred. "Go ahead and see if you can catch anything," she encouraged me. "I already have some experience with hunting, so don't feel bad if I catch something and you don't."

I was only half listening to her as I bounded towards the most tantalizing scent I could find. My feline instincts quickly took over. I was dimly aware that I was lowering my body as close to the ground of possible. My tail skimmed just over the surface of the ground. My ears were alert and rotating, stopping only when they found my target. As I walked, my body never rose high from the ground. Every step was deliberate; every fiber in body was alert.

I could see the rabbit chewing on a patch of clover by a small stream. My stomach growled, and for a moment, I feared that the rabbit had heard it. However, the rabbit continued to chew on its clover contently.

For a moment, I was conflicted on whether or not I should creep closer or simply try to overtake it. Despite my inexperience with my body and hunting rabbits in general, I could tell that I would stand little chance of outrunning a rabbit from this distance. I took a few cautious steps closer, and then broke out into a run.

The rabbit quickly tried to hop away, but I made sure to keep between it and the stream. I had purposefully shades it up the current, so the stream only grew wider during the chase. I could see the rabbit edge towards the water and knew its next action immediately. It leapt to the other side, but had mistimed the jump and skidded on the stream's bank. I had more carefully timed my jump, so I manage to leap across the stream and pounce on the rabbit before it could recover from its mishap. A swift bite to the throat ended its life.

Only then, as I reveled in the success of my catch, did I finally become aware of my actions. I almost cried—if cats could cry, I mentally noted—because I had given to my newfound instinct so easily. It was as if they were a part of me. Suddenly, I realized that this was how Tobias must have felt when he became trapped in the body of a hawk. He was no longer a human, and after some time he was no longer a human in a hawk's body. Rather, he existed as both a hawk as a human. Two side of the same coin, or so the humans say.

My stomach rumbled once more, and I sank my teeth into the rabbit's flesh. It was warm and tender, almost like chicken. I wasted no time in devouring my well-earned meal.

 _~Tobias~_

"So then I said, 'If you're going to try to kill me, make it quick, or else you won't be returning to your pool tonight.' That human controller turned around so fast I thought she would turn into a human licorice whip. Then Rachel just ran right over her in elephant morph like it was an ordinary day in the park. Splat! Flattened like a pancake, I didn't even need to check for a pulse. I jumped back into the fray—"

"I know, Marco," I growled. "I was there too, remember?"

"But you didn't see it from my eyes," Marco insisted.

"My hawk eyes are better than any eyes you were using during that battle," I said pointedly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

I grunted, but didn't bother to give him an actual reply. Soon after we had left our bush, Marco had suddenly decided that a good way to spend the time was for him to rant about previous battles we fought. I wanted to find a way for him to shut up, but until we found something to hunt for breakfast, he had no reason to be quiet.

Then again, I doubted anything would come near us while he rattled on.

"—I mean, the dracon beam was just lying there! It was asking to be used against its former masters!"

I had accidentally tuned myself out to his rambling, I suddenly realized. Well, that was probably a good thing anyway. "Marco," I said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"It's not like there's anything around here to hunt anyway," he pointed out.

"Well, I'd prefer if you keep your mouth shut so we could stand a chance at actually eating something before noon!" I hissed. I stuck out a paw randomly at an open patch of grass. "You go hunt over there, and I'll go hunt over there," I said as I pointed to a cluster of bushes, knowing that no decent animal would live out in the open where I pointed to Marco. "Let's make it a competition to see who can catch the most amount of prey."

'What's the prize?" Marco asked slyly.

"First dibs on everything caught," I replied automatically.

"You're on," said Marco. He bounded over to the open grass as fast as his short legs could carry him.

I chuckled internally as I scanned the area around me. My nose managed to pick up many scents around me, but I was used to using my eyes as my primary senses, so it was hard to distinguish the prey-scents among the many plant scents. As I instinctively tried to scan the area, I saw a large shadow pass over. I looked up to see a bird up in the sky. Unfortunately, it was in the way of the sun and my weak cat eyes were unable to look at it clearly. Grumbling, I realized that the bird had probably scared all of the prey away, showing of its shadow like that. No bird of prey would make such a careless error unless it was ignoring everything else for a choice rabbit or something.

Eyes widening in realization, I scanned the skies to see bird swooping down. I instantly recognized the bird. I could see its mottled feathers of black, brown, and white; its beady amber eyes; its sharp beak and talons; its distinct ginger tail. I was looking at none other than a red-tail hawk, the creature I had become over the past few years of my life.

In my shock, I almost forgot what I had meant to do in the first place until it was bearing down on its unsuspecting target. "Marco! Duck!" I yowled at the top of my lungs.

I could see Marco turn to face me, and then he quickly looked up to see the hawk heading for him. I'm pretty sure that any normal cat—or human turned cat, for that matter—would've been paralyzed in fear. However, Marco was an Animorph. He only stood still for a moment, and then flattened his body to the ground at the last possible second.

I had already begun running towards him before the hawk had even passed over his body. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Peachy," he replied as he eyed a nick on his shoulder. "So, is that your bratty second cousin once removed or your mother-in-law?"

"This is no time for jokes," I snapped as I craned my head to keep an eye on the hawk.

"It's not going to try again, is it?" Marco asked as he watched circle overhead. "Don't most hawks usually give up fairly quickly?"

"Not if they're hungry," I said knowingly. Even from this distance, I knew the expression the hawk's face. "It must be starving if it's going to try for us again."

"So, what's the plan?" Marco asked as the hawk began to dive again.

"You keep running, I'll take it out."

"…No, seriously, what's the plan?"

"No time," I hissed as I took off running. Marco quickly bounded to keep up with me, but he was falling behind. I slowed my pace to match his. "Keep running and don't stop. I've lived as a hawk long enough to know how to fight one off in any form."

Marco didn't bother to respond, and instead pushed himself to run even faster. I allowed myself to lag behind him a few paces. I didn't even need to turn around to know that the hawk had its attention focused on me. Every predator knew that the slower prey made for an easier kill, and it didn't hurt that I was a bit bigger than Marco, even if I was also leaner.

I took a risk and dropped to the ground early. The hawk faltered overhead, but trained its sights on Marco instead. I sprinted once again. I knew that I could not outrun a hawk while it was diving, but I also knew the time hawks were most vulnerable.

Marco didn't need my warning this time. We've had enough experience with airborne opponents to develop an instinct on how to dodge them. He threw himself to the side just as the hawk swooped down. The hawk skimmed the grass and started to pull up, but I that was I leapt. Due to my small size, I was unable to bowl it over. However, I had accidently landed on one of its wings, unbalancing it. We both crashed to the ground.

I got up almost immediately. While the cat part of me was still howling in pain, my natural pain tolerance was taking over. The hawk was likewise stunned. Its wing looked out of place, but as far as I could tell it was only dislocated. Aside from some lost feathers, it looked fine.

"Kill it already!" Marco hissed.

I suddenly remembered the reason we were out here in the first place. We were hungry, and the hawk would easily be enough for the two of us to share and still have leftovers. However, I was conflicted. The hawk was a part of me, and it was almost appalling to think of slaughtering it for meat.

"Do it before it wakes up," Marco hissed again. He was only a few feet away from me, but didn't dare go any closer. It was a smart choice, considering his size.

He also had a good point. The hawk's gaze was already clearing, and its talons were twitching frantically. I had to make a choice.

The hawk screeched as it finally awoke. I pounced on it, and felt a familiar prickling sensation in my skin. The hawk lay still underneath me, but I didn't even think about eating it now. I jumped of the hawk with what I hoped was a smile on my face.

"Dude! It's getting away!" Marco exclaimed.

Sure enough, the hawk had recovered and flown away. Apparently, my latest pounce had accidentally popped its wing joint back into place. I didn't care though, and told Marco so.

"Are you crazy?" he asked. "I'm starving here and you just let a perfectly good catch fly away!"

"I'll just have to catch others then," I said as I attempt to smirk.

Judging from Marco's expression, I had succeeded. "You think it's going to be that easy?" he asked skeptically. "We both know that hunting as cats is not a walk in the park."

"Oh, I know," I replied.

Then the changes began.

First, my whiskers sank into my muzzle. Then my front legs started to dissolve. The bones in it cracked, dissolved, and reformed as my skin stretched like rubber. I fell to the ground as the flesh of my hind paws disappeared, leaving only the raw bone. My vision sharped considerably, while my other senses dulled. Suddenly, all my fur sunk under my skin. It felt weird being a deformed hairless cat, but I only had to endure it for a few seconds. Feather-patterned tattoos appeared on my skin, before forming into familiar feathers. My feline tail suddenly shrank into spine, and a set of tail feathers grew in its stead. My beak was my final feature to appear.

"Dude…" said Marco breathlessly.

I grinned, or at least tried to considering I had beak instead of lips. {I can morph,} I said though thought-speak.

* * *

 **Yes, they still have the ability to morph. Come on, they're the AniMORPHS. I can't strip them of their powers! So I... stripped them of their morphs. He he.**

 **Like it? Hate it? Leave a review! Reviews are food for a writer's soul!**


	5. Chapter 4

**I know I haven't been giving the entire cats an equal amount of time, but the plot doesn't exactly help me much there. Don't worry, by the end everyone will get a roughly equal amount of screen time.**

* * *

 _~Marco~_

"So, what's today's lesson, Bud?" I asked as I arched my back in a cat-like stretch, pun totally intended.

Buddy, who had been grooming bits of moss and grass from his ginger fur, paused to answer me. "Today, you'll be doing a review," he replied briefly, before returning to his all-important grooming.

"Don't tell me we're going to learn more boring clan cat culture stuff," Rachel complained.

"Yeah, that was a waste of a beautiful afternoon!" I added.

"I actually found the lesson on culture to be quite fascinating," said Ax. "These cats have a very humanistic culture if you learn to recognize the parallels."

I made a gagging sound, but Cassie nodded in agreement. "Besides, the more we know about them, the better we can help them," she said.

"Whatever," I grumbled.

Then Jake and Tobias, who had been suspiciously absent when I woke up this morning, ducked into our humble abode. Each was dragging a rabbit behind him.

"Excellent job you two," Buddy said with a purr.

"It was mostly Tobias," said Jake modestly. "All I could do was herd the rabbits, but he was the one who caught them."

"It was teamwork," Tobias muttered, though I could tell he was pleased with the praise.

"You six enjoy your meal," said Buddy. "I'm going to catch a mouse or two for my own breakfast." He slunk out of the bush and bounded away.

Jake looked at Tobias, who nodded and darted out of the bush. A few moments later, he returned. "All clear," he announced before lying down on the grass.

"Thank you, Tobias," Jake said with a nod. Then he addressed all of us. "What do you all think of our guide?" he asked.

"I think he's trustworthy," said Cassie. "I don't get any bad vibes from him."

"He's alright, but he reminds me too much of my social studies teacher from middle school," Rachel complained.

"I believe he is trustworthy," said Ax. "But I will defer to your judgement as always my prince."

"He annoys me," Tobias grumbled. "But he does have his uses."

"I don't think we can trust him completely," I said cautiously. "But he knows Ellimist, and he's a cat, so… I guess he's cool."

Jake nodded. "I only trust him to a certain degree as well, but I wanted to know how the rest of you felt about him. Now, Tobias has an announcement to make."

Tobias rose from his position. "I can morph," he announced. I could tell he tried to make his announcement as monotonous as possible, but the excitement in his voice was as plain as day.

Ax, Cassie, and Rachel gasped. I, of course, had been there when he discovered his morphing abilities, so I was not shocked by the announcement.

"So can you turn back into a hawk, or a human?" Rachel asked.

"I have acquired a new hawk morph, as well as a rabbit morph," Tobias replied.

"I also acquired a rabbit morph," Jake added. "It appears that it was not our morphing that was taken away, but rather, our morphs."

"So if I could find a grizzly bear—"

"You would be eaten," said Tobias flatly.

"A girl can dream can't she?" Rachel responded in a huff.

"Save the flirting for later you two," I said dryly. They both shot me death glares, but I merely smirked in response.

"Jake, this means that our new bodies are our new 'original' forms, right?" Cassie asked.

Jake nodded. "While it's not ideal, at least we still have the ability to morph."

"But what can a domestic feline safely acquire as a battle morph?" Ax asked.

"Our normal forms will have to serve as our battle morphs, for now at least," said Jake. "Also, we should make sure to keep our abilities a secret, even from Buddy."

"Who else is around for us to tell?" I asked with a snort.

"I think we could find some badgers, foxes, raccoons, and even dogs around here," said Cassie, getting back to Ax's question.

"Horses, hawks, and eagles are also useful morphs," added Tobias.

"Whatever morph we chose, we'll have to actually find the creature if we want to use their bodies in combat," said Jake. "I would suggest we keep an eye out for any potential morphs, but remember to stay safe above all."

"Tell that to Tobias," I muttered.

"How about we go on an expedition to acquire morphs?" Cassie suggested. "We'd probably only be able to acquire prey animals, but it's a start."

Jake nodded. "We'll have to plan in advance though," he said. "I don't want Buddy to know what we're doing."

"Agreed!" I pitched in.

Tobias suddenly perked up his ears. Frowning, he lashed his tail on the grass.

We never rehearsed that signal. In fact, we didn't create any new signals for our new bodies. However, due to our experience battling down laser-blasting aliens, we've learned to understand improvised signals.

"So a cat and a dog walk into a bar," I said suddenly. "The cat sits down and tells the bartender, "I'll have some H two O." So then the dog pipes up, "I'll have some H two O too." When the bartender returns, the two animals drink and the dog falls over, dead. Do you know what the moral of the story is?"

"Cats are smarter than dogs?" Jake guessed.

I shook my head mournfully. "Nope. Dogs just aren't fortunate enough to have nine lives."

"That does not make any sense," said Ax. "Cats do not have nine lives either."

"Some actually do," said Buddy as he crawled under our bush. "But that's a lesson for another time."

"That was quick," Cassie commented casually.

"I had a favorable wind and a nice mouse," Buddy replied with a grin. "Come, today's lesson will take place outside."

We ducked out from our bush and stepped into the warm sunlight. "So what's our lecture about today, oh Wise One?" I asked.

"This is not a lecture, it a lesson. And a review at that," Buddy corrected me.

"Goody," I grumbled.

"First, I need you in pairs," said Buddy. "Ax and Jake. Rachel and Tobias. Cassie and Marco."

We paired of obediently, even though we were all slightly confused. "So… is this a group test?" Rachel guessed.

Buddy smirked. "Wrong," he said. "Jake, step forward. The rest of you, step back." After we did so, Buddy then said, "Jake, attack me."

Jake didn't hesitate. All of his warrior instincts were turned on in an instant like the flick of a switch. He was a black and ginger blur as he leapt towards Buddy, who barely managed to leap aside in time. When Jake hit the ground with his forepaws, he used his momentum to swing his body around and face Buddy on all fours. Again, Jake pounced, and again Buddy managed to leap aside. This happened three more times, until Buddy lost his balance in mid dodge. Jake was on him in an instant.

At this point, I thought the match was over, but despite Jake's obviously heavier bulk, Buddy managed to rear his hind legs to kick Jake off. Jake landed with a roll and prepared to strike, but this time Buddy was on the offensive. Jake was forced dodge and block Buddy's strikes, and I noticed that Buddy kept his claws sheathed even as he ruthlessly assaulted Jake. Finally, Jake tried to muscle his way through Buddy's attacks. He sent Buddy sprawling to the ground easily. However, when he tried to pin Buddy down, the sly ginger cat managed to twist in a way that left Jake on the bottom. Jake struggled, but he was unable to squirm out of Buddy's grip.

"I yield," Jake finally declared.

Buddy jumped off Jake shook out his ginger fur. "Do you know why you lost?" he asked.

"Because you have more experience than me?" Jake guessed.

Buddy nodded. "I can see that you're used to using ferocity and strength to battle," he correctly deducted. "This works well against most opponents, but around here, strategy is much more important."

"Our strategy is to work together to kick butt!" I piped up.

"Kick butt?" Buddy echoed.

"It is a human expression referring to the defeating of opponents," Ax explained.

Buddy gave Ax a nod of thanks. "Working together is good, but you need to be able to have individual strategies besides raw power. As you can see, none of you are large or strong enough to simply overpower me, and I'm only of average build for a feral cat. Some of the clan cats are at least as large and bulky as Jake, which means you will stand no chance in direct combat with your current tactics."

"Don't you tell us yesterday that they don't fight to kill?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, but some of their more aggressive warriors tend to bend the rules when it comes to non-clan cats," Buddy warned. "Or at least, so I've heard. The point is, you need to learn how to fight properly, or else you won't be the feared warriors you once were."

"Understood," said Jake.

"So what's the first lesson in kitty crushing?" Rachel asked as she lashed her tail back and forth in anticipation.

"First, stop looking at where you're aiming," said Buddy. "You're actions are very predictable, which makes all of your speed and power useless because I have a moment to think of a counterattack before you strike. Jake, try again."

Jake nodded, and sprang for Buddy without losing eye contact. Buddy jumped back, and Jake's leap fell short. Before Jake could recover, Buddy had tackled and pinned him to the ground.

"It's strange focusing on a single opponent," Jake admitted as Buddy let him op once again. "We usually can strike fast and hard enough to overwhelm our enemies, but having to learn how to fight in a specific way is very… different."

"It may be strange to you, but it's vital for your survival. If you can be beaten by an ordinary cat like me, than you'll be in trouble when you run into a real challenge," said Buddy. "Your style of fighting is very good for rats, rogues, and maybe foxes, but not for the clan cats. While fighting them with strength is good, it takes a smart opponent to take down their defenses. You each will need to learn how to maximize your individual strengths and counter your individual weaknesses. Which pair wants to fight?"

"Me!" I cried at the same time as Rachel.

"Cassie and Marco next then," said Buddy. I grinned at Rachel, who stuck out her tongue in response. "Remember, claws must be sheathed at all times. Only use your teeth for nipping and grabbing. No killing bites or neck injuries. Understood?" We both nodded. "Begin!"

I leapt at the same time as Cassie. We collided in mid-air, but despite my smaller size, I was not bowled over. We landed in awkward heap, hissing and batting at each other. Actually, it was kind of silly how we were fighting without using our teeth or claws. At least, it would have been funny if our sheathed blows didn't sting so much.

Cassie wasn't that much bigger than me, but I quickly realized that my smaller size and greater agility allowed me to evade her attacks with ease. However, my limbs were too short to hit her without receiving a stunning blow to the ears.

After some time had passed, we split apart and began circling each other, looking for an opening. Cassie leapt towards me, and I jumped back. I pounced forward when she landed, expecting to use the same move I had seen Buddy use, but Cassie's jump had fallen far shorter than I had expected. Now I was the one unbalanced as she tackled me to the ground. I tried struggling, but Cassie made good use of her larger size to keep me forced to the ground.

"Yield," I muttered under my breath.

"I can't hear you!" Rachel jeered from the sidelines.

I growled, but thankfully, Cassie let me get up without forcing me to repeat myself.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Cassie asked with concern.

"All I have is my wounded pride," I grumbled.

"Tobias and Rachel, you two are next," said Buddy

Tobias and Rachel didn't immediately leap into battle like the rest of us. They circled around each other and maintained eye contact as they sized each other up.

"Now all we need is the theme music from _The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly_ ," I commented.

The two sprung, but they didn't hit each other. Tobias sailed low and far, while Rachel sprang high and didn't actually land too far away from where she started. Rachel took the offensive immediately by plowing towards Tobias. Tobias leapt over her head, an impressive feat considering he wasn't that much bigger than I was. When Rachel turned around and charged again, Tobias leapt over her once more. Rachel jumped up to intercept, but Tobias took that opportunity to plow her paws first. Unfortunately, he didn't have nearly enough strength to knock Rachel over. When they hit the ground, Tobias was squashed under Rachel's sizable bulk.

"Great job, Xena! Too bad bird-boy!" I called out.

"My form isn't as strong as the rest of yours," Tobias wheezed.

"Neither is Cassie's but she still managed to whoop Marco," said Rachel. "Now yield." After Tobias had muttered his submission, Rachel finally got off him.

"I believe it is time for Prince Jake and I to have our round?" Ax queried.

Buddy shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to borrow Jake and Cassie for a bit," he announced to all of us. "Tobias, you're now paired up with Marco. Rachel, you're up against Ax. Make sure not to kill each other while we're gone!"

* * *

 _~Cassie~_

Buddy led Jake and I down to a calm brook. "You two are going to need to learn more than the others," he told us.

"Why?" Jake asked in surprise. "Anything we should know, the others should know as well."

"Yes, but to is not for me to tell them," said Buddy. "Jake, as leader, it your responsibility to give crucial information to the ones you lead. It is also you're right to conceal information, as you already know from your experience."

Jake nodded knowingly.

"But why am I here?" I asked. "I don't participate in leading, and I'm nowhere near the running for second in command. That's usual Ax or Marco's job."

"Do you remember what I taught you about clan leadership hierarchy yesterday?" Buddy asked.

I felt that answering a question with another question was aggravating, but decided not to tell him so. "The leader's word is law, the deputy is the second-in-command and future leader, and the medicine cat functions as an advisor and sometimes an ambassador," I recited.

"Excellent," said Buddy with a purr. "In a group as small as yours, there is no need for you to recognize a deputy under normal circumstances. However, you, Jake, are the obvious leader of your group. If you can command respect from the leaders of other clans, it will aid your mission considerably."

"But what am I here for?" I asked.

"I believe it's obvious," Buddy mewed.

I looked at Jake. "I see what he's getting at," he said.

"What do you—oh," I said in realization.

"That is right, Cassie," said Buddy. "You are effectively your group's medicine cat."

"But I don't know how to use medicine like this!" I exclaimed as I stretched my paws forward. "I can set a broken bone just fine with hands, but I've never tried to do it with paw. And I've only used human medicine. What kind of medicines do cats use anyway? Herbs?"

"What else would we use?" Buddy asked. "Don't worry about the skills; I'll be training you to the best of my ability. The only thing you must do is play the role. Jake will be leading this group, but it will be up to you, Cassie, to advise him when he makes a bad call. Maybe StarClan will talk to you one day to give you words of wisdom, and maybe they won't. Regardless, you must be the calm voice of reason at all times. Can you do that?"

I took a moment to think about this. What Buddy was asking sounded like a lot, but then I realized, I was going to do pretty much the exact same thing as I usually did. I wouldn't have to change anything about myself. "Yes," I said confidently.

Buddy grinned. "Jake, you can head back to the others. I'll need to teach Cassie some natural remedies."

* * *

 _Three sunrises ago…_

 _~Leafpool~_

I was already awake before the first rays of dawn broke through the forest canopy. I was already awake before the birds had begun their pre-dawn songs. I was already awake before the dew had settled on the grass.

And yet, I still didn't see Jayfeather.

"You're up early," Squirrelflight, my sister, yawned as she stumbled out of the warrior's den.

"Couldn't sleep," I replied. "Something was bothering me."

My sister's green eyes jumped open. "StarClan?" she asked in surprise.

I shook my head. StarClan hadn't spoken to me since I had broken both the Medicine Cat Code and the Warrior Code. "Not StarClan, but I still felt something," I insisted.

Squirrelflight shrugged. "Ask Jayfeather about it then," she said. "I'm sure he'll be up by sunhigh."

"He's not here."

Squirreflight blinked in surprise. "Come again?"

"He's not here," I repeated. "I've been waiting for him to return from the Moonpool since before dawn, but he still hasn't returned."

Squirrelflight frowned. "That's strange, he should've been back ages ago," she said. She eyed the warriors who were lumbering out of their den. "I'll send a patrol to make sure he's okay," she promised.

"Thank you," I said graciously. I watched as Squirrelflight sauntered to the warriors and began barking out orders.

It turned out that Squirrelflight's offer was unnecessary. Jayfeather suddenly burst through the camp entrance as if a herd of badgers were chasing him. "Where's Bramblestar?" he asked as he perked up his ears and opened his mouth. He did this when he was trying to make full use of his other senses.

"In his den," Squirrelflight replied with concern and no small amount of confusion. "Is everything alright?"

"Do I look like everything's alright?" he snapped sarcastically. "Come with me to Bramblestar's den, there's something important I need to tell you. You too, Leafpool."

We nodded. "Cloudtail, get your patrol moving!" Squirrelflight yowled over her shoulder as we approached Bramblestar's den.

Squirrelflight and I had the decency to announce our arrivals as we approached the den, but Jayfeather simply barged in. Bramblestar was already awake, but I still frowned in disapproval and concern. Jayfeather was brash and snappy, but he hadn't been so wound up in moons.

"What is it, Jayfeather?" Bramblestar asked in alarm. He too had noticed Jayfeather's agitation.

"StarClan have given me an omen," Jayfeather began gravely.

* * *

 _~Jayfeather~_

 _My visit to the Moonstone was quiet. For some reason, none of our warrior ancestors was there to greet me. The other medicine cats said they did not have the same issue, but even they seemed troubled by their visits. On my way back, I decided to look for some comfrey and other herbs. Eventually, I found myself at the lake, even though I was not near any of the herb beds._

 _Then, I heard a rustling nearby. I turned around saw a maple tree sprout among the trees of our forest. Then I saw a fir tree growing alongside it from a rotten stump. However, the fir tree was dead and rotten even as it grew in size with the maple tree._

 _The two trees towered over me, and then I saw the night sky turn blood red. The trees came crashing down, cats fled running and screaming, but when the red light from the sky shone on them, they were safe. I didn't know how, but they were. Even as the two trees toward, every cat that stood exposed to the blood red sky only watched the spectacle calmly, and miraculously, the trees' branches missed them._

When I finished my tale, the three older cats looked back at me with a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

"What does this mean?" Squirrleflight asked.

" _When strangers take root and old enemies arise, destruction will only be averted through a sacrifice of blood_ ," I recited.

"What old enemies?" Bramblestar asked.

"What does StarClan mean by this?" Leafpool asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "The words were whispered to me by a voice, but I can't remember whose it was."

"I should've gone with you to the moonpool," said Leafpool mournfully.

"Many of StarClan still don't recognize you as a medicine cat anymore," Squirrelflight reminded her. "There was nothing you could have done."

"We must take precautions," said Bramblestar.

"Don't you think we should wait until we have a sign that things are really bad before we take drastic measures?" Leafpool asked.

"I'm not going to take drastic measures," said Bramblestar. "I will only make sure that we prepare ourselves unless I see reason to relax. We recovered our latest troubles too soon to deal with another catastrophe on our paws. Squirrelflight, make sure we have three border patrols a day. No apprentice will be allowed to leave camp without the company of a warrior. Tell everyone to report to me directly if they smell anything unusual."

"And what should I tell them if they ask for a reason?" Squirrelflight asked.

"Tell them only that we need to make sure these rogues we've scented know to keep their distance," our leader replied. "Don't tell them about the prophecy yet, we want to remain alert, but we do not want a panic."

I nodded, but I wondered how well the secret would hold since a pawful of warriors had seen Jayfeather's distress. _Oh well,_ I thought. _Hopefully, we'll get to enjoy at least another few moons of peace before the prophecy comes to pass._ Despite my hopefully thoughts, I could feel a stone of dread settling in my stomach. Somehow, I knew things were going be very bad, very soon.

* * *

 **School's starting for me next week, so I'm going to hold off the chapters. I've already written the next one, but I find it very good to have a chapter on hand for emergency times of writer's block.**

 **Like it? Hate it? Remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!**


	6. Chapter 5

**I'm back from my hiatus! I won't be updating regularly, but at least I'm back for you guys (and girls)!**

* * *

 _~Jake~_

"You all have made exceptional progress," Buddy congratulated us after we had finished our breakfast.

Immediately my mental alarms rang. Buddy had spent the past week training us both physical and mentally, but he only congratulated us after a day's hard work. He never complimented us before we had done anything besides hunt for our breakfast. Buddy's facial expression did nothing to quell my rising suspicions. He looked tense, nervous even. His body was not fidgeting, but his tail was stiff and unmoving. His eyes looked at us without any merriment or cheerfulness. While he had a smile on his face, it was a sad smile, rather than his usual cheerful one.

"What's up Bud?" Marco asked, voicing all of our worries.

"I'm afraid I have to leave you now."

I was surprised. Although Buddy had not said exactly how long he would need to stay, I always assumed he would stay for longer. We still had much to learn and review about the landscape and the clans, and we still hadn't mastered hunting and fighting.

"What do you mean by now?" Rachel asked. "As in tonight or—"

"Right now I'm afraid," he said regretfully.

"But why?" Cassie asked in confusion. "We still have a lot to learn."

"I know," he said. "But this morning I felt the situation in the city worsen. I need to go there."

"This is sudden," said Tobias suspiciously.

"I heard it on the wind," Buddy explained. "I am needed there, even more so than I am needed here."

Apparently, Buddy could talk to the wind, or the wind could talk to him. I still wasn't sure. All I knew was that he could hear things that were happening far away, and predict the weather with surprising accuracy. However, hearing a call to go to the city was a surprise. I didn't understand how he could know anything about what was happening so far away, but considering that the clan cats here could talk to the dead, I guess his ability wasn't beyond reason. After all I've seen and been through, calling anything impossible would be hypocritical.

"It has been a pleasure to learn from you," said Ax. We all meowed and nodded in agreements.

Buddy dipped his head in thanks. "I know you will do fine," he told us.

"Any last minute words of wisdom, oh wise one?" Marco asked.

"If you want to establish contact with the clans, start with the ThunderClan," Buddy replied. "They tend to be the most welcoming of foreigners. Trust in your gut and your feline instincts. And if you can, speak and listen on the wind. Goodbye, Animorphs."

(line break)

With Buddy gone, we didn't feel like doing much for the rest of the morning. I decided that the rest would be good for all of us. After all, with our guide gone, we were back to depending on each other for survival.

It wasn't until noon—or sunhigh, as Buddy said the clan cats called it—that I finally ordered everyone to their feet. Or paws, in this case. "Tobias and Cassie, scout the surrounding area. Look for herbs, prey, enemies, anything. The rest of us will be battle training here until you return."

"Should we also look for suitable battle morphs?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, but remember to stay safe," I reminded her. I knew that she was cautious enough to know that already, but my advice was also directed to Tobias as well.

They both nodded and ran off.

I turned back to my remaining crew. "Ax, you're going against Marco. But first, Rachel and I will spar."

Marco groaned. "But Ax is over twice my size!" he protested. "I hate battling against him!"

"I'm almost twice your size and I'm much more solidly built than Ax," I pointed out. "Do you think you would do better against me?"

"Let's just go already," said Rachel as she bounded a few yards away. "Don't you know it's rude to keep a lady waiting?"

"I'm coming," I said good-naturedly as Marco muttered something rude under his breath.

Rachel and I began the standard sizing up. Unsurprisingly, we were the two best fighters of our group, I due to my experience and Rachel due to her ferocity. Ax trailed right behind us, because his long legs and tail allowed him to use several of his natural Andalite battle tactics. Marco, surprisingly, came next in the hierarchy despite his unassuming size. His combination of size, agility, and strength allowed him to evade most attacks and retaliate with a vengeance. To add to the surprise, Tobias came right behind him. While Tobias had the least amount of experience in fighting on four legs, his predatory hawk instincts gave him an edge in speed, precision, and ruthlessness. Cassie was an intelligent and defensive fighter, but she lost most of her sparring matches. Since she had to spend a lot of her time memorizing herbs and didn't practice as much as the rest of us, I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised.

Rachel, as usual, leapt first. I planted myself to the ground, knowing that even Rachel would not have an easy time knocking me off my paws. She landed a foot to my right and sprung again. Once again, I didn't budge. She crashed into me, but I rolled with the momentum to pin her to the ground.

The next thing I knew two feet had pressed against my belly and heaved me off her. I landed with a roll, and clumsily jumped aside as Rachel pressed her advantage with a pounce. I was on the defensive, dodging the worst of her blows and shrugging off the lighter ones as I tried to find an opening.

"Come on, Jake! Xena's not that tough!" I heard Marco cry out.

Rachel kept her eyes on mine, but I could tell by the fire in her eyes that she had been distracted by the comment. That was my moment. I surged forward, plowing her to the ground. I leapt to the side as she kicked, and her hind paws only brushed my striped pelt. I leapt on her before she could recover, effectively subduing her. She flailed her paws and squirmed, by I was pressing my body on her to prevent her from moving.

"Yield," I ordered her as pushed down a litte harder, knowing that she would struggle for a good long while if I didn't speed up the process.

To my surprise, she spat in my eye. I yowled in surprise, and then suddenly I was the one on the bottom.

"Yield," she hissed in my ear.

I tried to push myself free, but I was held fast. She had copied my hold perfectly. "I yield," I stated.

Rachel jabbed my nose before jumping off me. She then settled down in the shade and began grooming her long brown fur. "Want to go for a round after you're done with Ax?" she asked Marco nonchalantly.

I could see Marco pale despite his short grey fur. "I think I'm good," he said with a nervous smile.

"Nice trick," I complimented Rachel as I settled down a few paces from her. "Planning to use that often?"

She snorted. "I'd prefer to save it as a last resort," she replied. "You'd be surprised how difficult it is to aim spit."

I didn't comment to that as I settled down to watch Ax and Marco spar.

* * *

 _~Lionblaze~_

"Old enemies rising? Sacrifice of blood?" Lionblaze echoed. "Does StarClan have nothing better to do than to send us riddles and mysteries?"

"Why does it always have to be blood?" Dovewing asked mournfully.

"I wish I knew," Jayfeather muttered.

The three of them were meeting in the medicine cat den. Leafpool was out collecting herbs, so Jayfeather had decided to inform the other two about the prophecy. After all, they were part of the three, so he figured they deserved to know despite Bramblestar's orders.

"And you say they didn't show up at the Moonpool?" Lionblaze asked.

Jayfeather nodded. "Now I wish that I had pressed the other medicine cats for information," he said. "This is too confusing."

"Don't worry, we're the Three," said Dovewing. "There's nothing we can't handle!"

"We _were_ the Three," Lionblaze reminded her. "Our powers are gone."

"Not completely," Dovewing insisted. "Besides, we don't need powers to save the clan! Firestar accomplished more than the three of us put together, and he didn't have any of our powers!"

"Saving the clan isn't easy when we don't know who or what our enemy is," Jayfeather grumbled. "StarClan is even more cryptic than usual, and Midnight and the Rock aren't helping me either."

"We could try to figure it out," said Dovewing.

"Do you fancy yourself a genius?" Jayfeather snapped.

"No need to get your tail in a bunch," said Lionblaze sharply. "Trying is better than doing nothing."

"Fine," said Jayfeather grumpily. "Go ahead. Try your best."

"Let's see," said Dovewing thoughtfully. "The first part is, _when strangers take root_ , right?" Jayfeather nodded. "Well, those rogues we've been scenting are stranger, and they may be settling in the area."

Lionblaze nodded approvingly. "See, we're already making progress!"

"I considered that angle already," Jayfeather muttered. "While the rogues may be strangers, it's impossible to tell if their settling in the area without leaving our territory. The only kind of roots we have control over is the one in our own clan. However, unless some rogues walk up on the border and ask to join the clan, I don't think we'll have much control over that part of the prophecy."

Lionblaze noticed Dovewing's downcast expression. "Don't worry," he said to her encouragingly. "There's still the rest of it to solve. What's the next part again?"

" _Old enemies arise_ ," Dovewing recited. "Which enemies though?"

Jayfeather snorted. "The clan has made many enemies over the moons," he informed her. "Good luck guessing that one."

"We can at least keep an eye out for old troublemakers," said Lionblaze.

"Don't you realize that if any of the clan's old enemies show up, Sandstorm will point them out so we can rip them apart?" Jayfeather asked. "Once again, we have no say in this waiting game."

" _Disaster will only be averted through a sacrifice of blood_ ," Dovewing said, completeing the prophecy. "Well, we could keep an eye on everyone in the clan with relatives that are evil."

"That narrows it down to only about half of the clan," said Jayfeather sarcastically.

"Stop it, Jayfeather," Lionblaze said sternly. "You have no right to take out your frustrations on Dovewing. She's only trying to help."

"Well she can't!" Jayfeather snapped. "There's nothing we can do about the prophecy except wait for it to come true, just like we've done in the past!"

Lionblaze growled, but knew that his brother was right. "We'll just have to make sure we're ready for whatever comes our way," he said.

"At least it's greenleaf," said Dovewing. "We won't have to worry about empty bellies."

"Unless the lake runs dry or get poisoned," Jayfeather grumbled.

Lionblaze sighed in exasperation. "Come on, Dovewing," said the golden warrior. "Let's leave Jayfeather to mope in peace.' Dovewing was silent as she followed Lionblaze out Jayfeather's den.

"He's even grumpier than usual," the she-cat murmured worriedly.

"The vision that accompanied the prophecy must have scared him," Lionblaze said with a nod. "He'll be fine though. You know, after he spends the next few sunrises thinking we're all going to drop dead."

She frowned at me. "That wasn't funny."

The golden tom sighed. "I know."

"You're scared too, aren't you?"

"Yes," he admitted. "I'm no longer unbeatable, and if the clan needs to be ready for battle—"

"You're still one of the strongest warriors in the clan," Dovewing assured him. "I know that you could still fight two rogues of your size and win. We're more than just our powers, you know?"

Lionblaze purred. "I'm glad one of us keeps a clear head," he said with a smile. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he turned his head away.

Dovewing followed his gaze. "Don't worry, I'm not going to keep you," she said with a purr as she bounded away to give me some space.

Lionblaze nodded to her gratefully before padding across the camp. "Good catch, Cinderheart," the tom complemented his mate as she placed three mice in the fresh-kill pile.

"There's more to bring back," she replied with a purr. "Care to join me?"

Lionblaze nodded in affirmation, and followed her out of camp. Some of the flowers of newleaf were still in bloom, giving the air a fragrant aroma. The rays of light from the sun warmed the pair, but the leaves of the trees shaded them from the worst of the heat.

The pair of warriors were just out of earshot of camp when Cinderheart asked lionblaze, "So, what's the omen this time?"

Lionblaze immediately lost his balance and tumbled over a protruding tree root. "What prophecy?" he asked as he clambered to his paws.

Cinderheart responded with a _mrrow_ of laughter. "Don't play dumb with me, Lionblaze," she said. "Jayfeather's grumpier than usual, and I just saw you talking to Dovewing."

"But we—"

"Not to mention, I asked you about an _omen_ , while you replied about a _prophecy_ ," she added. "Give it up, Lionblaze, your face says it all."

Lionblaze gave her a sheepish smile. "I really am out of practice in keeping secrets, aren't I?"

"No, I've just gotten better at seeing through them," Cinderheart replied. "Now tell me, what's this prophecy that's got Jayfeather all riled up?"

Lionblaze grumbled something under his breath, but he knew the game had been over even before it had begun. " _When strangers take root and old enemies arise, destruction will only be averted through a sacrifice of blood_ ," he recited.

"It's always blood," Cinderheart muttered.

"Unfortunately."

"So, what does it mean? Do you know?"

"We just met with Jayfeather to talk about it, but we can't get anything conclusive," said Lionblaze with a sigh. He repeated the things they had talked about at the meeting.

Cinderheart listened patiently, and then said, "StarClan has never let us down so far. We may have to be patient, but I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

"I hope so," Lionblaze muttered.

Cinderheart ducked under Lionblaze's chin and began purring. "As long as we have each other, that's enough for me," she said.

Lionblaze nuzzled the top of his mate's head affectionately. "And it will be enough for me," he replied.

* * *

 **Ugh, ending a chapter on a sappy note. So cliche!**

 **Anyway, Buddy's gone, the Animorphs are still getting adjust, and we get a glimpse into how tension in the ThunderClan is building. If this seems to be getting boring, don't worry, I have a "confrontation" planned. It'll be in another two chapters I think, unless I deviate from my mental script.**

 **'Till next time! And remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!**


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm back! This chapter is a little... crazy, so hopefully I don't loose you with it.**

* * *

 _~Cassie~_

"Today's the day," Jake announced.

It had been three days since Buddy left us, and we had finally gotten out of our rut. Jake had made sure that we balanced our time between hunting, training, and looking for potential morphs. Due to the ever-present threats of dogs and other cats, we made sure we always traveled in pairs. I suppose we would have less to fear from other cats if we actually marked our own territory like Buddy had once suggested, but none of us were quite willing to do that. After one particularly embarrassing experience in wolf morphs, we found the idea of placing scent markers to be repulsive and extremely uncomfortable.

"Today's the day for what?" Rachel asked eagerly.

Jake cracked a rare, genuine smile. "It's about time we acquired some morphs," he said.

"Yes!" Rachel shouted, and we joined her in cheers. So far, our collection of morphs only ranged from various forms of small prey like mice and shrews. Jake, Tobias, and Ax were the only ones who had managed to acquire rabbits, and only Tobias had a morph that was actually battle worthy, a red-tail hawk.

"Are we going to leave camp unguarded?" Ax asked.

Jake nodded. "No rogues have traveled near us since we've settled, so we won't have to worry about them dropping by our camp," he said. "And even if they did, we have nothing here except a rabbit from last night. There's nothing worth guarding."

Ax nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Marco asked. "Let's go!"

"Cassie, we're going to need some bird morphs. Lead the way," Jake ordered. "The sooner we get flying morphs, the better."

I nodded, and we set out. The journey wasn't very interesting. We traveled for a little over two hours by Ax's mental clock, and there was nothing to see except grass, bushes, and the occasional tree. Our destination was a small cluster of trees that wasn't nearly thick enough to count as a forest.

"We've got a flock of ravens living here," I said. "Not only are ravens decent fliers, but since they naturally travel in flocks we won't look suspicious traveling together like we used to."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about looking suspicious when there's only cats around, but still a good call in my opinion," said Marco. He scanned the trees carefully. "I see them, but there's no way we can catch them by climbing or pouncing."

"I can grab one," said Tobias.

"I thought ravens liked to mob larger birds of prey," I said, remembering something Tobias had frequently complained about.

"They do," Tobias agreed with a sour expression on his face. "But if I'm quick, I can snag one and get it down to the ground before the rest can catch up to me."

"And then we can protect you as you hold it down," said Jake with a nod. "Excellent idea."

Tobias didn't respond because his mouth was already shifting into a beak. Another minute later, he was a red-tail hawk, soaring in the sky. He cried out loudly to attract the attention of the ravens, and they answered his call immediately. A swarm of black bodies flew upwards to Tobias, who regarded them calmly. Just as they were halfway up to him, he tucked in his wings and dived. The ravens scattered in panic, but one of them was the unlucky victim of Tobias' talons. The other raven screeched angrily as they saw their companion taken out of the skies, and followed after Tobias in hot pursuit.

No flock of ravens, however, could out-dive a red-tail hawk. Tobias hit the ground long before the ravens could even organize themselves, and by the time they actually struck we had already arranged ourselves in a circle around him. The ravens tried clawing and pecking us, but they didn't manage to do anything except flesh wounds. It took a few minutes to kill enough of them to convince the flock that we could not be beaten. By then, we had all acquired a raven morph. Some of us had acquired Tobias' catch, but I myself had merely acquired one of the birds I had been fending off.

"Everyone okay?" I asked. Everyone replied the affirmative.

"Raven morphs everyone," Jake ordered. "Cassie, lead us to our next stop."

As the last of our raven features appeared, I was suddenly assaulted by the ravens' emotions. I felt the sudden urge to search for food while socializing with my flock. However, it didn't take me more than a few second to recover. {Everyone ready?} I asked. After receiving affirmation from everyone, I took to the skies.

We flew southward for about an hour. It was very lazy flight. There weren't any good thermals to ride, but it wasn't too much work to keep ourselves aloft until we arrived. {Foxes live around here, a whole pack of them,} I said warningly. {As of right now, they are the only battle morphs we have access to, aside from horses, which will attract too much attention if we use them casually.}

{They'll do well enough for me," said Marco. {Though, I wish I could get a raccoon morph or something.}

{That would require us to take a trip to the city,} Ax reminded him. {It would not be feasible.}

{It still would be cool,} Marco argued.

{Let's just focus on the morphs we have available to us,} Jake said.

{Focus is essential,} said Tobias. {I'm going to be your eyes in hawk morph. Foxes are clever, and they're as large as Ax, so they aren't easy to beat in a fight. We'll have to do our best to catch one or two off guard.}

{We'll demorph and follow your lead then,} Jake decided.

It felt good to have four legs again. This was surprising, since I was used to walking on two legs. I supposed that my mind was adapting to the feline body faster than I anticipated. "The foxes live in the area, but I don't know where their den is," I told Tobias. "You'll have to make a wide search of the area."

{As if that matters to me,} Tobias scoffed, already halfway into his hawk morph. When he finished he flew off.

"I've got a fresh trail!" Rachel, who had been sniffing around, announced suddenly. She took off, leaving the rest of us in her dust.

"Slow down!" Jake shouted as he gave chase. "Remember, we can't risk running into them unprepared."

Rachel slackened her pace, but she continued at a brisk walk as she followed the scent. I smelled the air, and could easily distinguish the smell of wet dog in the area. It was very strong, and well overpowered the stale scents of mice and birds. "We must be very close to their den," I remarked.

Ax opened his mouth wide as he also scented the air. "Quite so," he agreed. "Their scent is everywhere around here." Suddenly, he stiffened and raised his hackles.

"What is it?" Jake asked in alarm.

A mental call from Tobias cut in, {Guys! You're surrounded by foxes!}

We didn't exchange another words as we moved in a defensive circle. From the bushes crept four foxes, a vixen and three tods. Sneers were plastered on their faces as they eyed us like fresh meat.

"Leave us in peace!" Jake growled.

One of the tods, who I assumed to be the alpha due to his large size, gave a barking laugh. He responded to Jake's threat in yips and growls that none of us could understand. However, we could tell that he didn't fear us.

{Three more foxes headed your way guys!} Tobias alerted us. {I'll keep them busy, but you have to get out of there now!}

Jake slowly made eye contact with all of us, and then gave a small nod. We sprang as one, choosing our opponents carefully. Jake went straight for the alpha. Ax leapt on the vixen. Rachel barreled down one of the remaining males, and Marco and I paired up on the last one.

The fox tried springing for Marco first, probably because he was smaller. However, Marco easily managed to leap from the fox's pounce. I sank my teeth into its hind leg, causing it to whirl on me. However, Marco jumped on its back and sank his teeth into the fox's ear. The fox reared, throwing Marco away. However, it left its stomach open to me and my claws. The fox howled and slammed me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I tried to throw it off, but it kept its body firmly planted on me.

I panicked as its teeth came close to my throat, and desperately clawed at its face. My efforts saved my neck, but the fox managed to sink one of its fangs deep into my paw. I let out a howl of pain as it violently ripped its fang out and prepared to have another go. I was ready to fight it off with my remaining paw, but the fox suddenly went slack. Its eyes became unfocused, and its grip on me loosened. Even in my panicked state, I could recognize the signs of an animal dazed by the morph acquiring process.

"Hurry up!" I heard Marco urge me.

I decided to save my strength and thank him later. I barely managed to roll the fox off me before it came out of its stunned state. It looked at me in dumbly, probably wondering how I escaped its grasp. I didn't give it time to think as I leapt for its neck and sank my teeth into throat. It tried to shake me off, but I held fast as long as I could.

It eventually managed to shake me off, but it took off the second it broke free. I didn't even care that it had gotten away. My paw was killing me and I was already feeling exhausted. Around me, the others were still fighting. Rachel and Ax were fighting back to back against their opponents, while Marco had joined Jake against the leader. I was more than annoyed that Marco had left me alone with that fox, but it appeared that he had made the right call. Jake was a mess. Three vertical cuts oozed blood from one of his sides, and one of his ears had been completely bitten off. The alpha fox wasn't looking much better. It was keeping the weight off one of its forelegs, and several gashes adorned its muzzle.

I decided that Marco and Jake could handle themselves, and I jumped onto one of the foxes that were battling Rachel and Ax. My weight was not enough to topple it over, so it only turned its head around in surprise. However, I acquired it before it could make another move. "Acquire them and let's get out of here!" I called out.

Ax caught on immediately. He broke the formation and tackled the other fox head on. The fox managed to withstand the blow, but before it could counterattack, it went slack as Ax acquired it. The fox under me started squirming again, but Rachel jumped on it and acquired it as well.

I glanced to Jake and Marco to see that they were doing the same thing. For a moment, I was at a loss for what to do. Tobias hadn't given us a status update, so we didn't know how he was doing. Jake hadn't given the order to retreat, but I didn't want to continue fighting. I was starting to see spots in my vision, and I was feeling extremely tired.

Luckily for me, Ax took the initiative. "Prince Jake! We must retreat!" he called out.

Jake glanced at him and nodded. "Retreat!" he yowled as he took off running. We followed behind as fast as we could manage.

* * *

 _~Rachel~_

The five of us ran until we couldn't go any farther. "Is everyone here?" Jake asked as his sides heaved.

"Here," said Cassie weakly as she nursed one of her paws. It was ripped apart by our recent run, and Cassie looked like she was about to pass out at any moment.

"I'm dead," said Marco. A grin was plastered to his face despite his exhaustion.

"Present," said Ax.

"Alive and well," I responded. Actually, my sides and back were stinging from the bites and scratches that vixen had left on me, but they weren't serious enough for me to worry.

"Where's Tobias?" Jake asked.

Ax's eyes widened in alarm. "He wasn't with us when we escaped!" he exclaimed. "We must go back for him!"

"Let's try to reach him through thought-speak first," said Marco.

"That'll take too long," I growled. "We need to go back now!"

"We can't rush into things just because your boyfriend forgot to send us a call!" Marco retorted.

"He could be hurt!"

"He could be hiding!"

"You don't know that!"

"Well neither do you!"

{Don't worry, guys. I'm up here.}

I craned my head in response to the surprising message. Sure enough, I could see a red-tail hawk careening towards us. "Tobias!" I called out in surprise.

Tobias flew down and gently landed on the branch of a bush. {Cassie told me you guys were about to go fight those foxes again because you didn't see me,} he said as he nodded to Cassie, who had morphed into a mouse while we were busy arguing. {As you can see, I'm alive and well. Those foxes were too stupid to leap for me without getting in each other's way.}

"I'm glad to hear that you're alright, but remember to stay in contact next time," said Jake. "If Cassie didn't get a response from you, and we would have had to assume you were in trouble."

{I know. I know,} Tobias grumbled. {You try keeping three foxes busy without getting eaten and see how much time you have for calling in for a status update."

"This was so much easier when we were all in our battle morphs," I said with a groan.

"We'll have to get used to it," said Jake. "We need to have us much practice in our cat bodies as possible, so we won't be using battle morphs except for emergencies. Remember, we need to keep a low profile."

"It's not like there's any media to take photos of us out here," I muttered.

{Can we not argue about this right now?} Cassie asked.

Ax nodded. "We should be grateful that we got out of this experience," he said. "We'll learn from our mistakes so it doesn't come this close again.

Jake nodded. "Cassie, take us to our last stop," he ordered. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back home."

* * *

 **Yes, this chapter was very fast, but I didn't see a good reason to slow this down. The Animorphs got their morphs (including one that I won't show you yet), and none of the clan cats showed up this chapter. Sadly, when writing a crossover, the foreigners to the universe tend to get most of the screentime since they have more adjusting to do.**

 **And no, I'm not telling you what their final morph was. It'll come up when needed.**

 **Now that the Animorphs have their morphs and their training, it's time for this story to really take off! Confrontation is approaching! The next chapter will be all from the clan cats' perspectives, and after that...**

 **It's showtime.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Note: In the original version of this chapter, a scene was missing. To everyone who missed that scene, here it is. To everyone who is reading this... enjoy!**

* * *

 _~Dovewing~_

"Doveing, Bramblestar wants you."

I tiredly stumbled to my paws. Bramblestar's order for extra security had caused a small out of shock from the clan, but we were coping relatively well. The warriors like me had some of extra responsibility, but it was nothing we couldn't deal with. Unfortunately, the extra patrol did mean that some of us had to wake up earlier or stay up later, which meant we really relied on our sunhigh naps. Such as the one I had been having before a certain someone had awakened me.

"What is it, Blossomfall?" I asked the tortoiseshell she-cat that had awoken me.

"Bramblestar wants to see you in his den," she repeated.

I could detect the slightest amount of envy in her voice, but I was too tired to care. I nodded to her in thanks and stumbled out of the den, blinking as my eyes burned in the brightness of sunhigh. By the time I had made the short walk to Bramblestar's den I had somewhat woken up, but my head still felt like it was stuffed with moss.

"You called for me?" I asked as I pushed inside the den. I quickly found that it was already packed with other cats besides Bramblestar. Seeing Lionblaze and Squirrelflight was no surprise, but when I noticed Brackenfur and Millie, I paused.

"Good to see you here," said Bramblestar.

"Is that everyone?" Millie asked as she looked around. "I don't think your den could even fit an apprentice at this point."

"That's everyone," Squirrelflight confirmed.

"What's this about?" I whispered to Lionblaze.

He shrugged. "Bramblestar said he would explain when we were altogether," he replied.

"Yes, I have a mission for you," Bramblestar announced. "As you know, the rogue scents in the area has been a cause of concern for some time now."

"Are you asking us to go explore outside of territory?" Lionblaze asked suddenly.

Squirrelflight shot him a dirty look for the interruption, but Bramblestar merely nodded and said, "Yes. I want to know how many rogues there are, and how close they live to us. Follow whatever trail you find as far as possible, but I want you back at camp by moonrise."

"The five of us will be going?" Millie asked with concern. "Won't that leave camp vulnerable with the extra patrols?"

"I'm not going with you," said Squirrelflight. "You're correct; camp needs every warrior we can possibly have."

"Brackenfur will be leading your group," said Bramblestar as he gave a nod to the golden brown tabby. "I trust in his judgement."

Brackenfur nodded in respect. "When do we leave?" he asked.

"Now," said Squirrelflight. "You won't have to venture far, but every moment counts."

"Then why are you having us leave at sunhigh?" Lionblaze asked. "Shouldn't we have left at dawn to cover more ground?"

"It's not going to be a long trip," Bramblestar assured him. "Just go as far as you can, and don't take unnecessary risks. You all may go now."

I still felt confused as we left Bramblestar's den. "Should we get traveling herbs?" I asked Brackenfur.

The golden tabby shook his head. "If you haven't eaten, grab something from the pile before we go," he said. "We won't be needing herbs for a journey this short, but I don't want us to hunt in unfamiliar territory." I nodded.

After some of us had a quick meal, we departed from camp. Brackenfur took the lead, with Lionblaze right behind him. I came right after Lionblze, which left Millie guarding our rear. Well, she wasn't guarding anything yet, but she would be once we left territory.

There was no significant landmark that marked the northern border of our territory. The scent markers were laid out in a haphazard line from the Greenleaf Twolegplace to the Moonpool. Aside from the lack of the familiar scent of our warriors, nothing really changed as we crossed the border. The trees were lush and green, and the air was warm from the scent of prey. Still, it didn't take us long to find what we were looking for.

Lionblaze came to a sudden stop. "I smell rouge!" he announced.

"I smell it too," Brackenfur confirmed. "But I don't think it's fresh."

"Do we keep going?" Millie asked.

Brackenfur opened his mouth wide. "Yes," he decided. "Everyone keep your eyes open and your ears up. And remember, we're here to scout, not to fight." He gave Lionblaze a stern look as he said this.

Lionblaze rolled his eyes. "I get the point."

Brackenfur nodded, and signaled us forward with a flick of his tail. We remained silent as we continued journeying north. I opened my mouth to get a whiff of the rouge scent as we walked. I could immediately tell that it was not the scent of one cat, but four cats traveling close together.

"Brackenfur," I whispered. I saw his ear perk up and swivel in my direction. "I smell the trail of four cats, headed that way." I swiveled my ears in the direction.

"How fresh?" he whispered back.

I took another sniff. "About… three days?" I guessed. That wasn't too stale, assuming that these rogues had permanently moved into the area, at least.

Brackenfur nodded. "Lead the way."

A small amount of pride welled in me as I took the front of the line. While my abilities to see and hear things as far as other clans' territories were pretty much gone, I still was one of the best trackers in the clan.

"Dovewing, doesn't the scent go that way?" Millie asked me.

"Uh, yeah it does," I said with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, my mind went elsewhere for a moment."

"Just remember that what we're doing is serious," said Brackenfur. "We can't afford to waste time."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to focus from now on." And I did just that as we followed the trail. The ThunderClan border was continuously in our sight until we reached a line of pine trees. A quick scent check caught until we reached a line of pine trees. A quick scent check confirmed that we were outside of ShadowClan borders. _The ShadowClan must also lack a distinctive physical boundary for the north border of their territory_ , I mused. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and resumed to follow the scent trail. The trail was easy to follow. I assumed it was due to the lack of rain, and these rogues lack of attempts to be stealthy. They didn't carelessly destroy everything in their path, but they didn't bother to remain undetected either. Which made sense since no one had claimed this piece of territory. But something else was bothering me about the trail. I just couldn't put my paw on it.

Around sundown Brackenfur announced, "Time to head back to camp. We need to leave now if we're going to get back on time."

"But we haven't found anything!" Lionblaze protested. He flexed his claws in and out of his paws as he kneaded the needle-strewn forest floor.

"We haven't found _anyone_ ," Brackenfur corrected him. "We may not have found any rogues, but we know where the scent trail leads."

"For some reason they were circling around our territory and ShadowClan territory," said Millie. "They stayed roughly the same distance from the border all the way around."

"They apparently didn't stop to hunt either," I added, noting the lack of deviation in the trail. "So it's rather they had a big meal before the left, or they were in a hurry."

Brackenfur shook his head. "They didn't leave enough of a mess to be in a hurry," he said. "If the had been running we would have noticed much more disturbance in bushes and grass. No, they were going for a long, slow trip over fast one."

"But why would rogues take a long, slow walk around the edge of clan territory?" Lionblaze asked.

"I don't know," Brackenfur admitted. "They weren't here for food, and they were too far away to scout or even scan our territory. There doesn't seem to be a logical reason for them to have come through here. Millie, you have more experiences with rogues since you've lived in the Twolegplace. Any thoughts?"

Millie thought for a moment. "Rogue groups tend to look at each other's territories to size each other up, but a group this small wouldn't be doing this to our clans. Even the most idiotic rogues wouldn't go up against such overwhelming odds."

"What if they were only a scouting party?" Lionblaze asked.

Millie shrugged. "It could be possible," she replied. "But that would mean that these rouge live nearby in the forest, and I don't have any more experience than you do with forest rogues."

"At least we have a start," said Brackenfur optimistically. "We're one step closer to solving this mystery."

 _Yeah_ , I thought glumly. _But how many more steps will we have to take before we even have a clue about what's going on?_

* * *

 _~Buddy~_

The abandoned warehouse stood tall, dark, and ominous before the ginger tomcat. He steeled his nerves and padded forward, being careful not to show any signs of fear or hesitation. He kept his whiskers, nose, and ears sharp, following the sounds and scents that travelled on the breeze. The stench of carrion and the smoke of twoleg monsters choked the air, but he had enough experience to glean the useful scents from the overwhelmingly clogged city air.

Suddenly, two large cats leapt down to each of his sides. A normal cat would have been frightened by their appearance. Even Buddy would have been startled, if he had not detected their scent earlier. "Greetings," he mewed calmly. "The weather is pleasant today, don't you agree?"

One of the cats, a dark brown tom, hissed at Buddy. "What do you think you're doing here?" he hissed. His lone eye glared at Buddy. "Don't you know that this place is off limits?"

His companion, a pale gray tom, took a whiff of Buddy's scent. "You're a newcomer 'ere, ain'tchya?" he asked. His voice was slightly garbled, which Buddy presumed was due to the scars that littered his face and neck.

Buddy nodded politely. "Yes, I arrived here only two days ago," he replied. "I was hoping to meet with your leader—"

"An' why would we lechya go to our leader for?" the scarred tom asked.

"Am I afraid that the information you want is classified," Buddy replied. "It is for your leader's ears alone."

"Nice try," the one-eyed tom huffed. "Now get lost. We've got better things to do than humor you."

"Since you're new 'ere, we'll let you off with just a warning this time," said his companion. "But if you come 'ere again, we'll make sure to teachya a lesson you won't forget."

"I'm sorry, but I must speak to your leader immediately," Buddy insisted. "I came a long way just to meet him."

The brown tom raised his hackles. "Well, we tried the easy way."

"You just had to insist didn'tchya?" hissed the grey tom. He lowered his body and raised his hackles. "Let's see how long it takes for you to see thing our way."

The two burly toms began circling Buddy, remaining across from each other so Buddy couldn't track one without leaving himself exposed to the other. Instead of spinning around in circles, however, Buddy sat down calmly, and closed his eyes.

His opponent's were surprised by his passive action, but didn't waste time with questions. With a shared nod, the two toms leapt forward.

Buddy immediately sprang upwards. The toms, being unable to avoid the inevitable collision, crashed into each other in the place Buddy had been sitting.

The ginger tom purred as he watched his larger opponent's shake off their temporary daze. "That was one of the oldest tricks I learned, and yet it still worked on you," he said with an amused smile. "What kinds of guards fall for such an obvious trap?"

The brown tom growled and sprang forward again. Buddy ducked low and rolled out of the way, and then leapt into the air to avoid the pounce of the grey tom. "If I defeat you, will you grant me passage to your leader?" he asked as he landed on his paws.

"You arrogant little kit," the grey tom growled. He charged forward, making a prediction for where Buddy would go to dodge. However, instead of dodging, the ginger tom threw himself into a roll at the grey cat's legs. The brown tom pounced, and landed on Buddy.

"Now you die!" the brown tom roared as he brought down his claws. However, Buddy arched his back and heaved the other tom off him before his claws could connect. Stunned, the brown time eyed Buddy wearily, and then looked to his partner for support. The grey tom had fear-scent leaking through every pore of his body as he stared at the unharmed Buddy with wide eyes.

Buddy smirked. Just as he had expected, these cats were only as brave as their claws could make them. "As I was saying," Buddy said. "I wish to meet with your leader. I've traveled far to get here, and it would be a shame if I wasted all this time for nothing."

* * *

Escorted on both flanks by his former opponents, Buddy was led deep within the warehouse to a large storage facility. They passed through several of sentries, all of whom regarded Buddy suspiciously, but they merely nodded to the guards who were escorting him. After passing through a large open doorway, Buddy finally laid his eyes on the lair of the cats' leader. Across the room Buddy could see crates of various sizes that were disorderedly stacked. Atop a particularly large stack of crates sat a massive black tomcat with dark ginger forepaws.

"Who is this?" the black tom growled. His tail lashed with annoyance and his eyes scrutinized Buddy as if the ginger tom was a fat mouse.

"My name is Buddy," Buddy replied with a polite, being careful to maintain the correct balance of respect and composure. "And I wish to join your ranks."

The massive tom raised an eyebrow. "You do not need to come to me to join my clan," he sneered. "My underlings take care of that." He glared at the two toms who had escorted Buddy inside. "Why are you wasting my time with him?"

"I do believe I am worth a small portion of your time," Buddy interjected.

The massive tom slowly stood up. His eyes glittered dangerously. "Do you wish to die?" he asked as he bared his teeth.

Buddy shook his head, "I have a wealth of information that could prove useful to you," he replied. "Tactics, battle formations, combat techniques, management… I know of all of these."

The black tom grinned without mirth. "Too bad for you, I already have an advisor to do such things for me."

Buddy nodded slowly, eyeing the tom with caution. "And I don't suppose there's any other way I can be of use to you?" he asked.

"On the contrary," a new voice responded. "I have something in mind that'll work wonderfully for you."

Buddy looked curiously at the mottled tortoiseshell tom that slunk from behind the black tom's stack of crates. "And you would be…?

The tortoiseshell smiled, but his eyes were cold as he replied, "My name is Sol."

* * *

 **Sol may be a coward, but he's never one to back off from an opportunity for power.**

 **'Till next time,**

 **-RainEStar**


	9. Chapter 8

**NOTE: This chapter was added because due to a missing scene the story got a bit... confusing. Yes it's short, but trust me, it's useful in the long run.**

* * *

 _~Cassie~_

The wind was blowing peacefully over the hills and through the grass. Cassie closed her eyes and kept her attention fixed on the breeze. The smells and sounds that it carried flowed over her like a gentle flow of water. She carefully sifted through the information the breeze carried on it, searching for the scents of prey or intruders. Granted, they hadn't seen any other cats beside themselves since Buddy left, but it could never hurt to be too careful.

{Hey, Cassie!}

Cassie winced as her concentration was shattered. "Marco!" she exclaimed aloud. She glanced around, looking for the grey tom.

{I'm up here,} Marco said.

Cassie looked up to see a raven circling overhead. "Do you need something?" she asked, raising her voice so Marco could hear.

{Nah,} Marco replied. {I just wanted to know what you were doing.}

"Come down and demorph so I can explain," she called.

Obediently, Marco swooped down and landed on the grass beside her. Then he began demorphing. Feathers turned into fur. Wings into legs. Beak into a mouth. In a little over a minute, Marco the raven had returned to Marco the tomcat.

"You remember how Buddy kept saying he was hearing things on the wind?" Cassie asked.

Marco nodded. "Yeah. It sounded like something a hippy would say," he replied. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I was trying to see if I could hear the same things," Cassie admitted.

Marco was silent for a moment. Then his eyes widened, and he burst out laughing. "Yup! You definitely lost it!" he choked out through his laughter.

"I'm being serious," Cassie said with a small frown. "Buddy could _really_ hear and smell things on the breeze with far more sensitivity than a cat should have. If I can master that ability…"

"Cassie, do you really think that you can do that?" Marco asked. "You're not Supercat, you can't expect to do every crazy thing that you see others do."

"Buddy said I could learn it," Cassie insisted. "Tobias and Ax could as well, but I don't think Tobias would like the suggestion. I think Ax may be trying, but since he hasn't said anything, I think he's having as much luck as I am."

"Wait," said Marco slowly. "Are you saying we could all learn this 'super sense'?"

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" she questioned. "I thought it was silly to try to copy every crazy thing you see others do."

"Oh, come on, Cass, I didn't mean it like that," said Marco. "I just think it would be kinda cool to have super senses… you know?

"Sorry, but I don't think you, Jake, or Rachel can do this," said Cassie. "Buddy said that Tobias, Rachel, and I have affinity for 'connecting with Mother Nature', which apparently is a very rarely ability to have."

"Hold on a sec, when was this?" Marco queried. "I don't remember Buddy talking about Mother Nature or affinities or anything!"

"Remember when Buddy would take me away from sparring practice?" Cassie asked. Marco nodded. "Well, not only was he teaching me about medical herbs, but he was also teaching me other tricks that could be helpful. This 'connection to the wind' is one of them."

"No fair," Marco grumbled. "You and Jake got a bunch of one on one time with that guy."

Cassie tilted her heard and looked at the sulking tom curiously. "Marco, are you jealous?" she asked.

"What? Me? Jealous?" Marco snorted. "Why would I be jealous that some of my friends get to learn a superpower and I don't? Tell me; is that anything to get jealous over?"

"If it makes you feel better, I still can't get any supernatural messages from the breeze," Cassie said comfortingly.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy," said Marco. His fur shrunk into his skin as his body started to shrink. "I'm going to go find something useful to do, li—caw!" His words were interrupted as his head acquired a beak and a new set of vocal chords. {—Catching some rabbits, or figuring out how to fight with this midget body of mine,} he finished through thought-speak. {Later.}

Cassie sighed as Marco flew away in his raven morph. "I think we're all getting a little riled up," she said to herself. "We're in a new place, in new bodies, and without clear directions." She sighed. "I just wish we would get a hint for our next move."

Cassie closed her eyes and focused only on the gentle breeze. The scents the wind carried were all faint, but she could not tell if that was due to distance or age. She could hear the sound of a flock of birds, the neighing of several horses, the sound of a lone raven cawing, and—

" _Cassie."_

Cassie jumped back in surprise. "Marco!" she exclaimed. "What is it now?" she asked in annoyance. She waited, but heard no reply. She examined the ground and sky around her, but she was alone.

"Marco? Tobias?" she asked as peered around the landscape more cautiously. "Is that you?"

Still unable to find the one who had called out to her, she closed her eyes and perked up her ears.

" _Cassie."_

Her eyes flashed open. Once more she searched around, but there was still no one to be found. "Did I…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. Instead, she closed her eyes again and _listened_.

" _Cassie."_

"I hear you," she whispered. "Buddy, is that you?"

" _Cassie."_

"I'm here," she reaffirmed. "Can you hear me?"

" _Cassie. Danger."_

"Danger?" she echoed. "Where? When? Who?"

" _Cassie. Danger."_

"Buddy, you need to tell me more," Cassie said urgently. "You… can hear me right?"

" _Cassie. Danger. Clans."_

"So it's time to make our move," said Cassie softly.

The wind suddenly picked up. _"Clans. Danger. Death. Sol. BloodClan!"_

"BloodClan? What's that?" Cassie asked.

The breeze died, living the air still. Cassie strained her ears, but could not hear anything else. Without wasting a second, she raced back to camp.

* * *

 **Can you paint with all the colors of the wind? Or perhaps hear the voices of your friends? This "wind listening" will be explained in due time my readers. For now, prepare for fireworks!**

 **'Till next time,**

 **-RainEStar**


	10. Chapter 9

**NOTE: To returning readers, I'm sorry you saw an update for a chapter you already read. Please return to chapter 7 where explanations are made. To new readers, enjoy!**

* * *

 _~Ivypool~_

"Does anyone else think that Bramblestar is acting suspicious?" Berrynose asked as he, Thornclaw, Spiderleg, and I made our morning patrol around the border.

"I think he's being very cautious," I said. "Rogues on the border is a serious threat."

"Then why don't we cut the waiting and go chase after them?" Berrynose asked. "We could easily send a patrol of warriors to make those rogues think twice before coming back!"

"They aren't even on our territory," Thornclaw replied. "For all we know they could have moved nearby and were simply checking for neighbors."

"But there must be more to it than that if Bramblestar wanted us to be this careful!" Berrynose insisted.

"It's just an extra patrol and a warning for apprentices," I reminded him. "It's not like he's regulated a patrol size or something."

"The fact that he did _something_ is still bothering," Spiderleg commented.

Thornclaw sighed. "Stopped questioning Bramblestar's actions and have a little faith in him," he said with a scowl. "Honestly, it's like you're planning mutiny."

"Well it's not like he's done a whole lot to gain our trust," said Berrynose.

Thornclaw gave a warning growl.

"He's got a point," said Spiderleg. "He still needs some time to settle in before he'll earn the clan's trust." He shrugged. "Some things just can't be rushed."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll bet you he'll earn that trust pretty quickly," I said. "After all, there's plenty of prey to go around, the clans are at peace, and those rogues have yet to show their face. Plus, he did a great as a deputy. The ThunderClan is in safe paws."

Thornclaw suddenly came to a stop. "Do you smell that?" he asked.

We all scented the air. "It's smells like—" Berrynose began.

My eyes widened. "Rogues!" I finished for him.

Thornclaw sunk low to the ground. "Find those rogues, but avoid being seen until we know if they're on our territory or not," he ordered in a low whisper. "Spiderleg, if they prove hostile, run back to camp as fast as you can and get reinforcements." Spiderleg nodded.

My light colored pelt was going to make it hard for me to hide, but I kept as low to the ground as possible as I tried to find the source of the rogue's scent. They were upwind of my position, which made my job much easier. I moved in a practiced hunting crouch until I could see my targets. There were three cats lying down just a few tail lengths from the border.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thornclaw stand up, drawing the attention of the three cats. "What is your business here? Why are so close to ThunderClan territory?"

The three cats stood up. The largest one, a massive golden tabby tom, stepped forward and greeted Thornclaw with a nod. "My name is Jake," he said with a surprising amount of politeness. His voice was slightly deep, but still carried the energy of a younger warrior. "And these are my friends, Cassie and Marco." He nodded to the cats besides him, a lithe black she-cat and a small grey tom, respectively. "We are here to—"

"Hold on!" the grey tom interrupted. "Can I say it?"

The black she-cat rolled her eyes. "Marco…" she said in exasperation.

"Come on, Cassie!" the small—and probably young—tom pleaded. "I've always wanted to say it!"

The larger tom—Jake, I believe—sighed. "Fine, go ahead," he said with a shake of his head.

"Yes!" Marco drew himself up as tall as he could, which wasn't all that high, and declared, "Take us to your leader!"

* * *

 _~Jake~_

Well, this was it. The moment we had been anxiously preparing for. We had put a lot of thought into deciding how we were going to confront this "ThunderClan", and it boiled down to our usual plan. Wing it. I decided to take Cassie and Marco with me because of their social skills, while Tobias led Ax and Rachel on overhead surveillance in raven morphs. If we could convince this warrior to let us speak to Barmblestar, we would be able to tell him what we knew about the situation without the need for a bunch of middlemen.

Now all I had to do was hope we could get in and out without a fight.

The golden tabby that Marco addressed looked at us with a mixture of surprise, hesitation, and confusion. "Why do you wish to speak to Bramblestar?" he asked.

"It's important that we speak to him as soon as possible," I said.

"Without an explanation?" the tabby asked.

Cassie stepped forward. "We were sent with an important message that we must deliver to Bramblestar," she said.

"Sent by whom?"

"The message is more important than the sender," I said.

The tabby hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head. "I cannot take you to Bramblestar without a good reason," he said.

"How about ultimate disaster, death, and destruction?" Marco asked.

The tabby's eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?" he asked suspiciously.

"If it was a threat, would we be coming to you like this?" I asked in return with a raised eyebrow.

"You're avoiding my questions."

"And you're not listening," said Marco. "We've got a very important message to deliver."

The tabby narrowed his eyes. "It only takes one to send a message."

"Would you ever send a messenger alone?" I asked. "Especially with the… tension?" Buddy had mentioned multiple times that hostile rogues were roaming the place, so I made a gamble and hoped this "clan" cat had noticed it as well.

To my relief, the tabby nodded. "A fair point," he decided. "I will not bring you to our camp, but I will see if Bramblestar wishes to speak to you."

Marco flopped down on the grass. "Well, we'll be waiting here then," he said.

The tabby turned and called over his shoulder, "Spiderleg! Tell Bramblestar that there are three rogues here to speak with him about important matters!"

Marco, Cassie, and I jumped when a long-legged cat sprang from the undergrowth and ran off.

"If Bramblestar wishes to talk with you, then you may talk," the tabby told us. "If not, know that your presence will not be tolerated this close to the border. Understood?"

I nodded. "We understand," I said. We had done our best, now all we could do is hope that this _Bramblestar_ would actually listen to us.

 _~Squirrelflight~_

Spiderleg practically flew through the camp entrance, which was highly dangerous, considering the ThunderClan camp was situated in a smooth-walled dip in the ground. "Where's Bramblestar?" he asked as he looked around. Several clanmates looked up from what they were doing in confusion. "Is he in camp?" Spiderleg pressed.

"He's in his den," I replied. "Why?" The look on the warrior's face made the hairs on the scruff of my neck rise.

"Some _rogues_ ," Spidlerlag spat, "want to talk to him. They're at the border with Thornclaw, Berrynose, and Ivypool."

"They want to _talk_ to _him_?" I echoed. "Did they call him by name?"

Spiderleg shook his head. "They just wanted to talk to our leader. Thornclaw was the one who told them Bramblestar's name."

I nodded as I mulled over the situation. "I'll get Bramblestar," I said as I turned towards the leaders den.

"No need," said Bramblestar as he pushed through his den's entrance. "I could hear the commotion from my den. Now…" He turned to face Spiderleg directly. "What's this about rogues?"

"Some rogues want to speak to you," Spiderleg replied. "They're at the border, being watched by three of our warriors."

"How rogues many are there?"

"Only three, and one of them is apprentice-aged, I believe."

"Did they say why they wanted to speak to me?"

Spiderleg shook his head. "They weren't very specific, but they did say something about death."

Lionblaze jumped up. "Are they threatening us?" he hissed.

"Let them try!" yowled Bumblestripe.

"Let's not leap to conclusions," said Bramblestar. "I doubt three cats would come to our borders just to gives us a baseless threat. Very few rogues would risk approaching scent markers as strong as ours, and especially not with such a small party. I will go and listen to what these rogues have to say." He nodded to Spiderleg. "Lead the way."

"But what if it's a trap?" I asked. "You'd be defenseless and too far from camp."

"They'll be four other warriors with me," Bramblestar reminded me. "I'll be fine."

"But you don't know how many warriors they have hidden in waiting," I protested. "Let me take Lionblaze, Cinderheart, and Dovewing with me. We'll stay a distance away and only come if it turns out that there's more of them."

Bramblestar gave a worried frowned. "That will leave camp almost defenseless," he said.

"Cloudtail's hunting patrol will be back soon," I replied. "All they have to do is stay in camp until we get back."

Bramblestar stood still as he deliberated this. Then he nodded. "Just remember, only get involved _if_ other cats show up and try to _attack_ us. I want to be able to get some answers from these rogues, and if we scare them away we will lose our chance."

I nodded. I watched as he left camp with Spiderleg, and turned back to the warriors remaining in camp. "Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Dovewing, you're coming with me," I ordered. "Foxleap, go to The Mossy Clearing and tell every cat that's there to return to camp. Bumblestripe and Toadstep, when Cloudtail and his patrol get back tell them to remain in camp until we return. In fact, no one else is allowed to leave camp on patrols or otherwise until we return. Understood?" From across camp nods were given. "Good." I nodded to three warriors I had chosen. "Then let's move."

* * *

 **NOTE: In the original version of this chapter, I had _long_ update. This time I'll keep it short and sweet.**

 **Hello, everyone! I know, I've been really inconsistent in my updates. Usually it's because of school and life, but this time it was because I wanted to update every story I had on the same day. Which turned out to be kind of dumb, because one chapter (of a different story) took an extra month and a half to do, which stalled my updates. I wish I could say that know I can update regularly, but I can't. I will promise this though, if I have a chapter, I'll give it to you within a relative short amount of time after completion. I feel bad leaving you in the dark these past couple of months.**

 **'Till next time,**

 **-RainEStar**


	11. Chapter 10

**Another chapter for you guys! I hope you enjoyed!**

* * *

 _~Bramblestar~_

Spiderleg and I ran through the forest. There was no real reason for me to rush. The rogues seemed to be insistent, but there was no evidence that what they had to say was important. However, I had a gut feeling that it was. In the past, most rogues stayed as far away from the border as possible, except for the few who thought they could get away with stealing prey. The massive increase of rogue activity outside our borders and the arrival of these rogues meant something big was happening, and I needed to know what it was.

Spiderleg led me towards the border not far from the Horseplace, and flicked his tail in the direction of the rogue cats. "The big tabby seems to be the leader of their group," he said in a whisper. "The small tom acts like an apprentice, and the black she-cat… well, I don't know what she does."

I nodded. "Where's the rest of the patrol?" I asked, only seeing Thornclaw watching the rogues.

"They're hidden nearby," he replied. "Ivypool is hiding over there in the grass, and Berrynose hidden behind that clump of ferns." He pointed indicated the hiding spots of the other warriors with his tail."

"Bring them here," I ordered him. "Squirrelflight's group will support us in case there's trouble, but if we have more warriors at the border, the less likely they are to try something."

I waited until Spiderleg had collected Ivypool and Berrynose before I stepped out of the undergrowth. I walked forward slowly, examining the newcomers with a careful eye. The tabby Spiderleg pointed out as the leader had a pelt that rippled with hardened muscles, and his broad shoulders were on par with mine. As I approached he locked his gaze with mine. He didn't have the wild, malicious glint in eyes that most rogues had, but his amber eyes showed that he was far from weak.

The young grey tom had an innocent smile on his face, and he didn't look any older than eight or nine moons. However, his eyes were cold and calculating as he surveyed my group. I could feel him size each of us up, which was unusual considering his apparent age.

The black she-cat looked my group with a calm expression I often saw on Leafblossom's face. Her green eyes sparkled with curiosity, but lacked the hardness of her companions. The soft breeze brought the scent of herbs to my scent glands. I guessed that she was the rogue equivalent of a medicine cat,

They certainly made an interesting group, but I got the impression that this wasn't an elaborate ambush. The tabby was intimidating, but the she-cat and young tom didn't look like they could be much of a threat. Not to mention there was no nearby cover for any cats to stake out an ambush. No rogue with any brains would try to attack me with such a meager group, especially when I had four warriors by my side. However, as they say, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

I stopped next to Thornclaw. The rogues were only a few lox lengths away; they had slowly advanced towards the boarder as I approached. "I am Bramblestar," I announced. "What business do you have with me?" I kept my as cordial as possible without sounding too curious.

The tabby took a deep breath in, and released it. "My name is Jake," he responded. "And these are my friends, Marco and Cassie." He flicked his tail to the apprentice and she-cat respectively, and they gave a polite nod to me as they were introduced. "I'm sure you've seen the traffic going on near your borders?"

"Traffic?" I echoed.

"I mean the number of rogues that have passing by your territory," Jake amended.

"Yes, we've noticed," I replied. "But we do not interfere with whatever rogues do outside of our territory."

"Well, you'll probably need to rethink your strategy," Jake said.

"And why is that?" I asked suspiciously.

The tabby took another deep breath. "This is going to sound totally crazy," he began. "But what I'm about to say is the truth. The rogues you've noticed are trying to destroy your clan, as well as the other clans around the lake."

"Destroy the clans?" I heard Ivypool echo in alarm.

"You're crazy!" Thornclaw growled. "It'll take more than a mangy band of rogues to chase us away from our territory!"

I flicked my tail to silence my warriors. "Do you have any proof?" I asked.

Jake met my eyes with hardened look. "The proof we have is the proof is the scent trail you must have noticed," he replied. "These rogues have been patrolling around clan territory for a good long while. And I'm not just talking about your clan. We've been investigating. All of the clans around this lake are in danger."

"Who gave you the right to interfere with clan affairs?" Berrynose hissed.

"I'm inclined to agree with Berrynose," I said as I narrowed my eyes. "What does it matter to you what happens in and around our territory?"

Jake opened his mouth, but Marco cut him off. "Depends," he replied. "Do you want the short version, or the long version? Just a hint, the long version will have us here till sundown."

"Show respect around Bramblestar you kit!" Thornclaw hissed. Marco stuck out his tongue in response, and his she-cat companion—Cassie—swatted his ear.

"I'll give you the short version," said Jake. I noticed that he didn't bat an eye at his companions' immaturity. "A being by the name of Ellimist sent us here to ensure your clan's survival. Are you familiar with that name?"

I shook my head. "What is this Ellimist?" I asked. "A rogue, a loner—"

"He's not a normal cat like you and I," Cassie interrupted. "He's a different kind of being. The closest example I can think to compare him to would be a member of StarClan."

My eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know about StarClan?" I asked.

"Ellimist sent us here with a guide to teach us about you clan cats and stuff," Marco responded. "I'm glad you guys have StarClan giving the same cryptic babble Ellimist gives us sometimes. It makes explaining our mission a whole lot easier. Well, it'd be even easier if you knew Ellimist directly—"

"Marco…" Jake growled.

"Shutting up."

I looked at the group with new eyes. Their story sounded strange, ridiculous even. But I couldn't deny that they were speaking quite openly to me and each other, and only loners who met us before—like Ravenpaw or Smoky—or members of the SkyClan could have told them about Star Clan. And the information they had on the rogues didn't contradict anything that Brakenfur and others reported to me.

"You can't expect us to believe that," said Spiderleg. "Dead rogues aren't a part of StarClan!"

"I never said Ellimist was a part of StarClan," Cassie corrected him.

"You compared this cat to StarClan," Spiderleg growled. "That's an insult to our warrior ancestors!"

"I think the big warrior throwing a hissy fit is enough of insult," Marco said mockingly. "Don't you know it's impolite to growl at la—she-cats?"

Spiderleg growled, and probably would have pounced on the apprentice if Thornclaw had not stepped in front of him and shook his head.

"Marco, cut it out," Jake growled at his companion.

"Sorry," Marco apologized. "It was too tempting."

The informality of this group was perplexing. They looked and smelled like rogues, but they more closely resembled kittypets in their actions and words. "This Ellimist, what kind of cat is he or she?" I asked Jake.

Jake pawed the side of his head. "Ellimist is kind of hard to describe," he replied. "We like to think of him as a grandfatherly type." He must have seen my puzzled expression because he immediately followed with, "He's old, like, been around for generations old. He knows a lot, but he doesn't really tell us more than he think we need to know, which turns out to be next to nothing. We know he tries to get us to do what's right, but we disagree at times and arrive at a compromise. He always seems to get what he wants anyway, but at least we go through life with a clear conscious." He gave me a tired look. "From what I've heard, your connection to StarClan is much less chaotic than our work with Ellimist."

"So it seems," I said in muted agreement as I processed what Jake said. From what I could tell, this Ellimist acted more like The Rock than StarClan. And since they hadn't mentioned him, I could assume that they didn't know about him. This meant that despite knowing far more about us than the average rogue, they still didn't know everything about our clan. "I feel like you're not lying, but I'm still not convinced. You're story sounds—"

"Bogus? Phony? Dubious? Unbelievable? Suspicious? Crazy? Cracked?" Marco interjected.

I didn't understand half of his words, but I got the general idea. "Yes."

"Crazy as it sounds, it is true," said Jake.

Memories of Sol flashed in my mind as I narrowed my eyes. "I don't suppose you want to enter our camp so you can 'help' us with our problem?"

"Not really," said Cassie. "We're busy keeping an eye on things here."

"Right now we just want to warn you of what's coming and present ourselves as your allies before everything becomes chaotic," Jake added.

"You three, allies to the ThunderClan?" Thornclaw snorted. "You must be joking."

"There are six of us actually," Jake replied. "Seven if you include our guide, who's infiltrating the rogues as we speak."

"Infiltrating, sure," Thornclaw huffed.

I took a few seconds to gather my thoughts before addressing Jake again. "I appreciate your concern," I said as I drew myself up. "But the ThunderClan does not need help to defend its borders. We can handle a few rogues."

"And I doubt a couple of you mangy furballs would make a difference anyway," Berrynose grunted.

"Oh, so if about a dozen rogues suddenly decided to stampede across our border, you'd be fine?" Marco asked.

"We've fought of worse," I replied honestly.

"How about twenty?"

I narrowed my eyes. "We can deal with as many as we need to."

"Oh, I see," Marco said with a contemplative nod. "Then if all twenty-seven of them attacked at once, you'd be fine."

My eyes widened in alarm.

"Twenty-seven?" Ivypool echoed.

"And how would you know how many rogues there are?" Spiderleg growled.

"As I said before, we've been investigating what's been going on outside of the borders of the four clans," Jake replied. "So far we've managed to identify twenty-seven unique scent trails. Of course, some of them could have been double counted. But there were probably many more that faded away before we could find them."

My head reeled with the startling news. "Are you saying that there are twenty-seven rogues are camped nearby, planning to invade the ThunderClan?" I asked.

"I wish," Jake said with a shake of his head.

"You wish?" Ivypool echoed.

"As in I wish that was all there was to it," Jake amended. "The reality is much worse. As far as we can tell, these are just the scouts. The expected size of the group that's coming is actually three or four times larger. And remember, they aren't planning on only taking over the ThunderClan. If they have their way, all four clans will be destroyed."

I felt all of my limbs freeze. These rogues had come to the same deduction of my scouts. But if this was true, then there was no way the ThunderClan survive. _But I can't trust the words of random rogues_ , I mentally scolded myself. _I need to take time to think about this, discuss it with a council, and determine the best course of action, whether this information is true or not._

As expected, the warriors did not take this news as well as I did.

"Impossible!" Berrynose yowled.

"Liars!" Thornclaw hissed.

"No rogues could ever defeat the ThunderClan," Ivypool spat.

"Enough!" I yowled. My cry rang through the air, halting my warriors' words in their tracks. I focused my attention on Jake. "I will consider your warning. You may return back to your camp." I turned around and signaled my warriors to fall in step behind me.

"Before you go, we do have some more information for you," Cassie offered.

I looked over my shoulder. "What kind of information?" I asked.

"We have some names."

"I doubt we would know the names of rogues," Spiderleg scoffed.

Cassie ignored him as her eyes remained focused on mine. I nodded slowly.

"Does 'Sol' mean anything to you?"

The rogues jumped back as my warriors whipped around and barred their teeth. I couldn't stop myself from spinning around, but I managed to keep my tone level as I asked, "How do you know about Sol?"

"Our guide, the one we said was spying on the rogues," said Jake. "Sol was one of the names he mentioned. Apparently, this 'Sol' is deeply involved in what's coming to the clans."

"There's no way that fleabag would dare come back here," hissed Berrynose. "We made sure to scare him off for good."

"Trust me, most of the time when you believe your worst enemy crawled under a garbage heap to die, they usually find themselves an army of minions and take their time plotting revenge," said Marco.

"How do we know you're not working with Sol, trying to destroy us from the inside?" Thornclaw asked suspiciously.

"Because we're just delivering our message and moving on with our messed up lives instead of being all buddy-buddy with you, duh," Marco shot back.

"If it helps, we'll keep our distance," added Cassie.

I decided to speak up before any of my warriors could side-track the conversation. "You said Sol was one of the names your spy mentioned," I said, regaining the attention of the rogues. "What other names did he say?"

Jake and Marco looked at Cassie, who nodded before replying. "He mentioned one other important name," she said slowly. "It was a clan name, or rather, the name of a clan."

Two names immediately popped into my head. My belly felt a twinge of fear as I suspected the answer. "Go on," I prodded, praying to StarClan that I was wrong.

"Have you ever heard of the BloodClan?"

* * *

 **Dun Dun Dun.**

 **Things just got real.**


End file.
